During the course of the Occupy Oakland movement’s development, local rapper-activist Boots Riley has emerged as one of its most visible faces.

Over the past two history-making months, Riley has literally walked the walk and talked the talk. He’s stayed true to himself and never stepped out of his own character - a charismatic and articulate advocate for better conditions, who just happens to own the most recognizable Afro since Angela Davis’ heyday.

On Oct. 14, Riley, accompanied by Gabby LaLa on sitar (a plucked stringed instrument ), was one of the first hip-hop artists to play in the renamed Oscar Grant Plaza, and he’s been a constant mic-checking presence at General Assemblies, rallies, press conferences, as well as contributing many lengthy posts in social media forums.

During the Nov. 2 General Strike, Riley led the march to the Port of Oakland, walking determinedly in front of two large banners reading “Occupy Oakland” and “General Strike,” looking like a man on a mission. In a movement which prides itself on having no leaders, Riley has led by example and been a source of inspiration for many.

This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Riley or his music. The son of civil rights lawyer Walter Riley, he has been organizing around progressive causes since he was 14. Since their 1992 debut single “Not Yet Free,” Riley’s hip-hop group The Coup has been one of the most consistent acts in the genre, as far as political messaging goes.

Indeed, perhaps only Public Enemy, dead prez and possibly Paris can claim a similar level of commitment to the cause of social and economic justice for oppressed people and the urban community. He’s also taken over where Rage Against the Machine left off, with his other band, Street Sweeper Social Club, a metal-rap outfit featuring former Rage guitarist Tom Morello.

At times, Riley has seemed prophetic. The highly-controversial, and never-used, original cover for the Coup’s 2001 album "Party Music" appeared to depict the World Trade Center about to be blown up, though, in actuality, the artwork was finished months prior to Sept. 11. Riley also was one of the first rappers to get on board with the anti-war movement, at a time when former President G.W. Bush-sanctioned patriotic fervor quashed many voices of opposition in the public sphere.

If there was an official soundtrack to the Occupy movement, it probably would have a high degree of verisimilitude to the Coup’s entire catalog, which has long championed the struggles of the underclass. In an interview conducted on Nov. 1 - the day before the General Strike - Riley discussed the relevance of his music to the movement, his thoughts on capitalism, and what labor actually means.

Q: The fourth day of the General Assembly, you performed “Underdogs.” Of your other songs, which of them do you think really identify with this movement?

A: There’s “Get Up.” There’s “5 Million Ways to Kill A CEO.” There’s “Everything.” You know, “every broke motherfu---- finna form a gang/When we come, we takin everything.” Probably every single song that I’ve ever written applies to what’s happening [now]. 

Q: Which song specifically, do you feel identifies the most with the Occupy movement?

A:” We are The Ones.”

Q: And the concept behind that one is …
 

A: “We, we are the ones. We’ll seal your fate, tear down your state, go get your guns. We, we came to fight. It’s your disgrace”… anyway, it’s just saying that, we are the ones that are gonna make the change. We, the people listening to the song and singing along with me. We’re not waiting for a leader.

Q: You kind of outlined the whole 99 percent thing before that was even really a thing.

A: Well, the whole 99 percent thing is really just another way to say working class vs. ruling class. It’s a way to create a way to say that. I think 99 percent vs. 1 percent is a little less precise, because it doesn’t talk about the relationship between the 99 percent and the 1 percent. But, it’s talking about that same thing.

Q: Can you speak on the relationship between labor and liberation?

A: Capitalism’s definition is in its exploitation of workers. That’s where the definition [lies]. And what we’re doing is, we’re struggling at that line, which is, how much people get exploited and how much labor’s wealth goes to the people. Now when I say, labor, people think, SEIU and ILWU, and things like that. But I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about everything that is made, everything that is serviced, that’s labor. And the boss makes most of the money. And that’s exploitation. And the labor is what creates the price of that product, whether that product is a service, or that product is a physical commodity.

Q: I read somewhere that the ratio of the average CEO salary to the average worker salary in America is something like 475:1.

A: I would believe that. I don’t know that for sure, but it makes sense. And so that shows you how much extra wealth there is to go around. And they’re not gonna give that to us on our own. They’re only gonna give that to us by force. But in-between that, we can get a little bit of it back by saying [to CEOs], you can either make nothing or make less. And that’s what this first step [the General Strike] is saying.

The first step, as Riley called it, did indeed prove successful as a symbolic protest statement. A crowd estimated at anywhere between 30,000 and 100,000 successfully shut down the Port of Oakland, after a daytime demonstration, which brought tens of thousands of folks to downtown Oakland. It was probably Occupy Oakland’s finest moment ... to date.

Of course, that success was short-lived. Later that night, a small group of protestors set fires, broke windows, spray-painted tags and confronted police, undermining the non-violent action of the march on the port.

While that tactic continues to be the source of much controversy and debate, it hasn’t deterred Riley’s enthusiasm for the cause. In a recent post to his Facebook page, Riley noted, “Occupy Anchorage is now on board for the December 12th West Coast Port Shutdown. This means that we now have Occupy Oakland, Occupy LA, Occupy San Diego, Occupy Portland, Occupy Tacoma, Occupy Seattle, Occupy Vancouver, and Occupy Anchorage all working together in a coordinated effort that will cause Goldman Sachs and {multinational grain exporter] EGT the loss of tens millions in profit at least.”

Sounds like Riley has just begun to fight.