The album cover that seemed to anticipate the World Trade Center Attack-Truth!

The Rap Group's Album Cover that Looked Like The Attack on the World Trade Center in New York-Truth!

Summary of eRumor:
The story is that a rap group named The Coup had a new album with a cover painting that looked eerily like the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11. So much so that the record company pulled it.

The Truth:
This one is true.

It is documented in numerous articles and interviews, but one interview with the group on www.rapstation.com provides a lot of background. The group is based in Oakland and was about to release a new album titled "Party Music."

The cover for the album pictured the leader of the group, Boots Riley, holding a detonator and the World Trade Center blowing up in the background. Although there isn't anything like jetliners flying into buildings, the scene of smoke coming from near the top floors of the trade center looked as though they could have been patterned after the actual attacks. The album was to have been distributed by Warner Brothers, who pulled it very quickly after the terrorist attacks. Click here to see the Wired News story and a picture of the album cover.

Boots Riley says the picture for the album was created in May or June of 2001. Riley is well known for ranting against capitalism and the album cover was supposed to symbolize his fight against it. He says, however, that he wants to make it clear that he does not endorse what happened at the World Trade Center on September 11. He doesn't advocate defeating capitalism by blowing up buildings.

Updated 9/25/01

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

I got an email from a friend that said there is a picture of an album cover, by a rap group named "Coup", which has as its background the WTC towers engulfed in a fire ball.

Allegedly done well before the attack, and has now been pulled by the record label.

Truth or fiction?