The Coup - Genocide & Juice LP

Armabillion (2021, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

The Coup is one of the many golden era bands that I discovered way after the fact.  I got really into their debut record Kill My Landlord and had been looking for a copy of their 1994 follow up, Genocide & Juice.  When it was originally released on Wild Pitch, there was only a white sleeve, censored/promo version pressed.  While not ideal, I was keeping an eye out for a copy, but even a sub par version of that often sold for collector prices that I wasn't really willing to pay.

Then, last year, Armabillion records pressed the full, uncensored album on 180 gram vinyl.  Unfortunately, it was limited to 275 copies and sold out super quick.  I found out about it a couple of hours after the preorder went up and it was already gone.  So, long story short, I did end up having to pay aftermarket prices and probably overpaid for this.  But, at least it's a great sounding, uncut version.

The record itself is equally as great as The Coup's debut.  Really strong beats and production that I believe was also augmented with live instrumentation giving the album a full, bass heavy sound.  The lyrics are left of center and are often focused on economic and social issues.  Much like their debut, the lyrics never come across as preachy or condescending.  It's delivered in a matter of fact manner, while still working within the context of a song that's designed to keep your head nodding.  It reminds me a lot of what KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions were doing.  Not that the groups really sound alike, but their method of blending information and entertainment are equally successful.

The Coup - Genocide & Juice:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mOovTXUM8TZPPGfsjDPMnJzbDSgtKejec