Claim:   The planned cover for a hip-hop album due to be released in November depicted an exploding World Trade Center.

Status:   True.

Origins:   The image below pictures the planned cover art (prepared in June 2001) for the forthcoming "Party Music" album by the hip-hop group The Coup. The cover depicts The Coup with an exploding World Trade Center in the background; group member DJ Pam the Funktress waves two sticks held between thumbs and forefingers (as if "conducting" the proceedings with two batons) while "Boots" Riley displays what looks like a detonator (but is actually just a guitar tuner).



Riley explained the symbolism behind the cover:

I came up with the idea with the photographer. We took the pictures on May 15, and we were done with it by the beginning of June. Any similarities are totally coincidental, and it was originally supposed to be more of a metaphor for destroying capitalism — where the music is making capitalist towers blow up. The politics of the Coup have more to do with the people organizing each other.

The cover art was only preliminary, however, and the album was not due to be released until November. The artwork has been pulled from the web site of the group's label (75 Ark), and the cover will be redesigned before the release date.

Note that the although the World Trade Center towers were used for the picture, the New York skyline is not visible, nor are any airplanes shown crashing into the towers. The artwork was merely intended to depict the destruction of a generic "tall building" and thus was not a harbinger of recent events, although by coincidence it did prove to be disturbingly congruent with the horrors of 11 September 2001.

Dream Theater's "Live Scenes from New York" album, which had been released with a cover depicting a burning New York City skyline (including the World Trade Center buildings), has been recalled and will be re-issued with new artwork:



Finally, the New York indie electronic duo I Am the World Trade Center are shortening their name to I Am The . . ., at least for now.

Additional Information:

      Album Cover of WTC Blast Pulled   (CNN)

      The Coup's Bomb   (TheStranger.com)

Last updated:   21 April 2008

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