Talib Kweli Quotes

I think hip-hop is no more misogynistic than America is as a society. I just think hip-hop is a lot more brash, a lot more bold, a lot more loquacious. There are a lot more words that go into a hip-hop song than go into a regular song.

A lot of these people, these program directors, just like anybody else in the world, even though they’re supposed to be leaders in the world, they’re followers. They follow what they think someone else is doing, instead of trying to blaze a trail.

Before Eminem, the idea that there would be a white rapper that anybody would really check for was fantastic or amazing or impossible.

When Occupy Wall Street happened, I took my money out of Citibank. I already had problems with all the banks – Citibank, Bank of America – but I was kind of just too lazy to take my money out until I saw how Citibank responded to Occupy Wall Street.

I am not a prisoner of conscious, but people try to make me one sometimes. It is both a gift and a curse. It’s a high honour but can create limitations – I have to be fluid.

The materialism, the brashness, the misogyny – everything in hip-hop is amplified. Misogyny is a good example of something that is completely amplified in hip-hop. I do think there is more than enough of a balance, though, for fans who are willing to search it out.

Honestly, you have to take care of yourself. That’s probably something I have learned on the road.

I think music sharing of any kind is great.

The beautiful thing about hip-hop is it’s like an audio collage. You can take any form of music and do it in a hip-hop way and it’ll be a hip-hop song. That’s the only music you can do that with.

If you look at my career, doing albums with Norah Jones, Justin Timberlake, Gucci Mane and Lil Wayne or KRS-One and Jean Grae, I can’t be pigeonholed.

There’s consciousness in my music, and my music comes from a conscious place. And when people say that, I certainly take it as a compliment. But my job, in terms of selling my music, is to be universal and to try to get it to everybody.

War is not civilized.

My personal take on politics is I deal with social situations and cultural situations in my music and in my life. I have said on record many times that I haven’t voted. I’m not the type of person who says, ‘I’m never going to vote.’ I think it’s clear to me that our system has failed us.

Skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion. Everything else is a distraction.

If I’m performing with a DJ, it’s all on me to draw the energy. I like the camaraderie of a band.

I’m not looking to set a standard… but, I believe I have offered a challenge to others with my work.

You make knowledge relevant to life and you make it important for children to learn things that will really relate to things going on in their lives, and not abstract.

As far as being on a major label, some labels get it and get what they have to do, and some labels don’t. I don’t think the label I’m on necessarily gets it, but I think over time they’re gonna have to.

The problem with our role is Americans live in a world of illusion.

I will never do a record without some sense of responsibility.

There are staples to my show. I have to be conscious about switching things up because I know people who saw me last year will say, ‘He did that last time.’ But if certain things work, they work.

So I just had to step up how I was doing it and the moment that I stepped up and the moment I focused all my energy on that is when things started to happen. So there’s a direct relationship between my inspiration and my output.

I don’t feel comfortable making empty music.

You’ll be fooled if you only get your hip-hop from the mainstream, you know. The things that move people are not just found in the mainstream cultures. And when we talk about hip-hop in general, hip-hop’s basically preoccupied with life.

People consider Black Star a great album, and I think it’s a classic album. But the fact is, both me and Mos Def have made better albums since Black Star.

My kids are the most inspiring thing that pushes me. It used to be because they were born, and I had to take care of them. Now it’s because my son raps, and he’s better than me. So now I gotta keep up with him, you know what I’m saying?

When I look at the arc of my career, my focus is on lyricism, right? I own that.

There just needs to be a gay rapper. He doesn’t have to be flamboyant, just a rapper who identifies as gay – who’s better than everybody. Unfortunately hip-hop is so competitive that in order for fringe groups to get in, you gotta be better than whoever’s the best.

I like collaboration because, first of all, I’m good at writing lyrics. I don’t know how to make beats. I don’t play instruments. I’m not a good singer. So even when you see a solo album of mine, it’s still a collaboration.

And you know, art as commerce, doesn’t really make too much sense, they don’t go together.

I tour whether I have album out or not. I tour more than any other hip-hop artist.

I take certain steps to make sure I’m relevant artistically. I always have new music and a reason to be on the road. I’m not just playing ‘Get By’ over and over. I have 12 albums.

I think all those artists are artists who are appreciated because you believe their words and you appreciate their honesty in their music. If you don’t appreciate the honesty in the music, the beat can be fly as hell but you’ll never give an emcee props.

It doesn’t get any more underground, conscious or indie than Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, but because they got a couple of really big pop hits, actually some of the biggest pop hits that hip-hop has ever seen, people are missing that part of their story. People are not counting that blessing.

The way I see it, if people truly love my music, they will support me in some way down the road.