Call it an unfortunate coincidence.
The Oakland, California-based hip-hop group, The Coup, changed the cover art for their upcoming Nov. 6 release, Party Music, hours after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon early Tuesday morning. The album cover depicted New York’s twin towers exploding.
According to Daria Kelly, director of sales for 75 Ark, the band’s label, said the artwork, which was done about two months ago, showed group member ”Boots” Riley holding a detonator in front of the exploding towers.
“We changed the artwork as soon as we saw what had happened,” said Kelly. “We were going to print them this week. Thank goodness we hadn’t yet printed them.”
The image was removed from the 75 Ark’s Web site about two hours after the initial attack, and a new album cover is now being designed, which will probably consist of the band’s logo, Kelly said.
Kelly added that The Coup focuses its music on the “destruction of corporate America,” and music industry sources say the lead rapper/ producer Boots Riley, whose real name is Raymond Riley, was politically active before becoming a musician, Reuters reported.
On a similar note, the rock band Dream Theatre and its recording company, EastWest, are contemplating withdrawing their Aug. 11 release, Live Scenes From NY because of its cover art.
The album shows the World Trade Center towers and the Statue of Liberty engulfed in flames on top of an apple draped in barbed wire.
Gihan Salem, a spokeswoman for EastWest, an imprint of Elektra Entertainment under AOL Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Music Group, said a decision on whether to recall the album would be made in a day or two.
