Raymond Lawrence 'Boots' Riley (born April 1, 1971) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, rapper, and communist activist. He is the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. He made his feature-film directorial debut with Sorry to Bother You (released July 2018), which he also wrote. In 2023, the streaming series I'm a Virgo premiered on Prime Video, which Riley wrote and directed.

Filmography

• 2026I Love Boosters — Writer, Director, Producer
• 2026The Last Critic
• 2023Fremont — Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
• I'm a Virgo — Director, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
• 2022I'm Charlie Walker — Bartender Ray
• 2021When I See Them, I See Us
• 2018Sorry to Bother You — Director, Original Music Composer, Writer
• 2015Rope a Dope 2 — Mayor
• 2009First Earth: Uncompromising Ecological Architecture
• 2006The Coup: The Best Coup DVD Ever — Self, Director
• Aliens in Eritea — Producer
• Mr. Burns — Director, Writer

Appearances as themselves (6)

• Hollywood Black — Self
• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• 201399%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film — Self
• 2008In Prison My Whole Life — Self
• 2000Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme — Himself
• The Daily Show — Self - Guest