Talib Kweli quotes - page 3

Young kids should be doing music that has shock value. They'll grow out of it. (Talib Kweli)
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. View quote
Talib Kweli
What is Norah Jones' style? Is it just the albums that we've heard? She has a rock group where she plays guitar in, downtown in New York, so do we really know her style? View quote
Talib Kweli
That's what hip-hop is: It's sociology and English put to a beat, you know. View quote
Talib Kweli
Things are fluid in this world, and if you don't remain fluid, you get lost in the sauce. View quote
Talib Kweli
My musical influence is really from my father. He was a DJ in college. My parents met at New York University. So he listened to, you know, Motown, and he listened to Bob Dylan. He listened to Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones, but he also listened to reggae music. And he collected vinyl. View quote
Talib Kweli
You gotta eat right, you gotta have healthy habits, you know, and balance out your decadence with a healthy lifestyle during the day. View quote
Talib Kweli
Skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion. Everything else is a distraction. View quote
Talib Kweli
Hi-Tek is on three or four songs on the new record. View quote
Talib Kweli
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. View quote
Talib Kweli
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? (Talib Kweli)
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. View quote
Talib Kweli
My fondest memories were watching the Beastie Boys get prepped to come on stage. They had a lot of antics and they play a lot of basketball... then they were giving out cameras to the crowd, and performing from the bleachers. The most important thing I learned was that you control your crowd, not the other way around. View quote
Talib Kweli
Being called a conscious rapper is quite a compliment. It's a great thing to be. But as an artist, my nature is to not be in a box. View quote
Talib Kweli
I tour whether I have album out or not. I tour more than any other hip-hop artist. View quote
Talib Kweli
I think hip hop is a dance music that's rebellious by nature. View quote
Talib Kweli
Honestly, you have to take care of yourself. That's probably something I have learned on the road. View quote
Talib Kweli
I'm at a loss for words. But even my loss is amplified. View quote
Talib Kweli
Homosexuality in hip-hop is an extension of homosexuality in the black community. The black community is very, very conservative when it comes to homosexuality, and I don't mean conservative in the good way, like we're saving money. I mean very intolerant. View quote
Talib Kweli
The only way for me to be an artist is to be honest in my craft. If I veer from that, I'm not giving the investors what they want. Sometimes it's my job as an artist to know what I want to do, even when the fans tell me different. View quote
Talib Kweli
I listened to a mind joint, and I wanted to do my own version of it, and what you hear on my mixtape is my take on what the whole CD sounds like. (Talib Kweli)
As an artist, I have to be a leader of my fans, not like follow them. Because if I chose to follow them, you know, they could do it. View quote
Talib Kweli
Music is not an exact science so depending on the time and the mode and the energy when we do it that will determine what happens with it. View quote
Talib Kweli
If I focus on being an activist and my job is to be a rapper, I'm not going to be as good of a rapper. I need to focus on hip-hop and focus on making the music, so that when the activists come to me and they need my voice to create a platform, then I've got enough people listening to me. Not because I'm conscious, but because I'm dope. View quote
Talib Kweli
Fortunately, artists can live off their works, if you're creative at how you do it. If you just depend on the videos and the radio, you're at a loss. View quote
Talib Kweli