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In high school, everybody rapped. You just pounded on the table.

Boots Riley

What first got me involved in politics was being 14, and a youth organizer comes to my house with a van full of 14 year old girls. “Hey, you want to go to the beach with us? But first we’re going to go support the cannery workers’ strike in Watsonville.”
BOOTS RILEY

Beach Girl House Organize Years
Sometimes it takes time to get into what ideas actually mean to you. Even when you’re not writing a song, it’s like that.
BOOTS RILEY

Mean Sometimes Song Writing
Death to the pigs is my basic statement.
BOOTS RILEY

Death People Pigs Statements
In reality, I know I’m not hurt directly by sexism; however, my life is made less because of it, so I started thinking about the fallout from relationships in which people feed off each other.
BOOTS RILEY

Hurt Reality Thinking
What I’m trying to do is make music that people relate to, that talks about ideas that are personal but also make that connection to trying to make revolutionary change, and I don’t need to change my music to get to a certain audience.
BOOTS RILEY

Ideas People Trying
I was an avowed professional revolutionary by the time I was 15.
BOOTS RILEY

Profession Revolutionary Time
I am a person who always feels like I am not doing the right thing because there’s always so many things that need to get done.
BOOTS RILEY

Done Feels Needs
I wanted to be part of changing the world. I don’t want to just stand by and watch it be however it is.
BOOTS RILEY

Want Watches World
I think there’s something your hormones do that makes a chemical change in the way you think.
BOOTS RILEY

Chemicals Thinking Way
A lot of us don’t get a sense of our personal power. I know the vast difference that one person can make in changing things.
BOOTS RILEY

Differences One Person Personal Power
Becoming a father made me a lot more sentimental than I ever was before. I never cried at movies before I became a parent. I feel music more intensely.
BOOTS RILEY

Father Ideas Thinking
I thought there were too many songs about people’s personal lives.
BOOTS RILEY

People Personal Life Song
People give out compliments because it’s polite.
BOOTS RILEY

Compliment Giving People
I just make music based on what I believe.
BOOTS RILEY

Based Believe Music
When my daughter was born, that was the first time I cried from happiness.
BOOTS RILEY

Born Daughter Firsts Happiness
In high school, everybody rapped. You just pounded on the table.
BOOTS RILEY

High School Rapped Tables
I have tried to write songs quickly that get scrapped. I’ve also taken a long time on songs that get scrapped because you can over-think something, and you’ve squeezed the life out of it. As opposed to work of art, it looks like a really great work of craftsmanship.
BOOTS RILEY

Art Scrapped Song Taken Tried
I wanted to write a song about sexism, but I didn’t want to do it in a mechanical way and be like, “Don’t be sexist!” because that’s not how I talk in regular life.
BOOTS RILEY

Sexiest Song Want Writing

In high school, everybody rapped. You just pounded on the table.

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In high school, everybody rapped. You just pounded on the table.

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