Talib Kweli quotes - page 2

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. (Talib Kweli)
And you know, art as commerce, doesn't really make too much sense, they don't go together. View quote
Talib Kweli
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. View quote
Talib Kweli
I met Mos Def around that time but I didn't hook up with him until I was about 17 or 18. View quote
Talib Kweli
I think music sharing of any kind is great. View quote
Talib Kweli
I will never do a record without some sense of responsibility. View quote
Talib Kweli
War is not civilized. View quote
Talib Kweli
At exactly which point do you start to realize, that life without knowledge is death in disguise? View quote
Talib Kweli
We played against each other like puppets, swearing you got pull When the only pull you got is the wool over your eyes Getting knowledge in jail like a blessing in disguise Look in the skies for god, what you see besides the smog Is broken dreams flying away on the wings of the obscene. View quote
Talib Kweli
Those who would trade in their freedom For their protection deserve neither. View quote
Talib Kweli
Hip-Hop's last hope like Obi-Wan Kenobi Through your television I'm shining light like a train Comin out like earthworms when it rains, bringing it like the C. I. A. be bringing in crack cocaine bailing out of planes with the George Bush connections, I push Reflection like I'm selling izm, like a dealer building the system Supply and the demand it's all just capitalism Niggaz don't sell crack cause they like to see blacks smoke Niggaz sell crack cause they broke. (Talib Kweli)
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. View quote
Talib Kweli
You know, there's a lot of activism that doesn't deal with empowerment, and you have to empower yourself in order to be relevant to any type of struggle. View quote
Talib Kweli
So I think hip-hop is moving and is going to continue to move in the direction of rappers just being honest with themselves, whether you're talking about Common and Mos Def or Nas and 50 cent. View quote
Talib Kweli
Well if somebody's giving me a script, I'll consider it. But it's not something I'm chasing. View quote
Talib Kweli
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. View quote
Talib Kweli
I don't feel comfortable making empty music. View quote
Talib Kweli
But it becomes disrespectful when the artist's process is not respected. View quote
Talib Kweli
The way I see it, if people truly love my music, they will support me in some way down the road. View quote
Talib Kweli
I don't think that early hip hop stood out to be a social critique. A lot of fans of mine think that hip hop's ultimate responsibility is to critique social structures. View quote
Talib Kweli
The responsibility of an artist is to be honest with themselves. (Talib Kweli)
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. View quote
Talib Kweli
When I look at the arc of my career, my focus is on lyricism, right? I own that. View quote
Talib Kweli
Artists look at the environment, and the best artists correctly diagnose the problem. I'm not saying artists can't be leaders, but that's not the job of art, to lead. Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte - there are artists all through history who have become leaders, but that was already in them, nothing to do with their art. View quote
Talib Kweli
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. View quote
Talib Kweli