Street Sweeper Social Club

This post holds the information to one of the greatest genre-crossing collaborations of all time. I’m not talking about Lil’ Wayne on the electric guitar or Linkin Park trying to rhyme. This collaboration brings together two legends of their respective genres to teach us that when it’s done right, rap and rock can go hand in hand.

Tom Morello and Boots Riley have come together to form Street Sweeper Social Club.

“It’s revolutionary party jams,” said Morello of Street Sweeper Social Club. “It’s got huge steamroller riffs combined with depth, charge, funk, while Boots unloads clip after clip of incendiary rhymes rich with satire and venom.” Riley added, “This is a time when the working class is being fleeced left and right. More families will be homeless and more people will be jobless. They’ll need something to listen to on their ipods while storming Wall Street.” Good music and social activism. We like.

In case you didn’t know, Tom Morello is the founding member and electric guitarist for the bands Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave along with other well-received solo projects . He’s one of the most celebrated electric guitarists around, winning the 26th spot on Rolling Stones “100 Greatest Guitar Players of All-Time.” And of course, Morello continues to be a widely recognized political activist.

Boots Riley makes up the hip-hop portion of this duo. He’s best known as leader of the group The Coup, who have been selected for top-10 album of the year lists by Rolling Stone, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times among many others. Billboard Magazine named The Coup “the best hip-hop act of the past decade” shedding light on just how influential Riley’s group has been. Born in Chicago and raised in East Oakland, Riley has been a community organizer throughout his life.

Street Sweeper Social Club has created the perfect mix of rock and hip-hop.