The Coup’s “Dig It” may come as a surprise to some, but most hip hop heads know the group’s knowledge of black politics, history, and theory exceeds most. Boots Riley uses pointed references to make complex rhymes flow with ease. Che Guevara, Mao Tse Tung, and Kwame Nkrumah make appearances in Boots’ rhyme scheme before the first verse as even ended. In the video Boots, former member E-Roc, and the late Pam The Funktress (RIP) stroll around Oakland in a casual black and white video format. Were it not for the groups charisma, the simplicity of the video would almost clash with the depth of the lyricism.
“I’m spitting dialectical analysis,” Boots says sticking his head out of a bus window before going on to mention, “Knew that I was doomed since my date of birth/ To be the wretched of the earth; never had a dream that was American.” His reference to Frantz Fanon’s book The Wretched of the Earth supplements the images of local Black people around Oakland being shown in black and white throughout the video. In this way seeing things in black and white here is more than just aesthetics; it’s subversive black resistance.