There’s no simple way to describe Boots Riley’s directorial debut, Sorry to Bother You. Going into Sundance where I attended the world premiere, all I needed to know was that Boots directed it. Period. I had grown up a fan of his activist hip-hop group The Coup, and wondered how, if at all, he would bring the group’s radical, anti-capitalist messaging to the big screen. The answer was OF COURSE HE WOULD, but this is no simple movie with an easy-to-understand message. Nothing with Boots is ever quite so simple.
I was fortunate enough to speak with Boots about Sorry to Bother You, how he came up with the concept, and when he decided that filmmaking was the natural course for his career to take.We also discussed his many influences as a director and a musician, of which there are many and quite a few surprises.
Sorry to Bother You is in theaters now and you can check out my review here.