Party Music

By embracing a tighter, more traditional brand of hip-hop than he had on 1998’s Steal This Album, Boots Riley helped make 2001’s Party Music one of The Coup’s most convincing statements. “Wear Clean Draws,” “Ghetto Manifesto,” and “Tight” are three of the nastiest beats of Riley’s career, and even the rock-infused “Lazymuthafu**a” is driven by a ferocity that should be feared by feebler rappers. Riley’s intelligence is matched by his gutsiness. While Jay Z made CEO worship a fixture of hip-hop culture, The Coup were unafraid to dismantle his posturing with the merciless—yet highly danceable—“5 Million Ways to Kill a C.E.O.”