- All Quotes
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Once you're signed to a label you compromise.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
Skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion. Everything else is a distraction.
Talib Kweli Black Star
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I started rapping because I wanted people to hear what I have to say, I want as many people to hear me as possible, and I do everything in my power to make that pop.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
I tour whether I have album out or not. I tour more than any other hip-hop artist.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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. You know, it's me who's doing it.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
We commute through computers. Spirits stay mute while our ego spread rumors. We're survivalists turned to consumers
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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.
Talib Kweli Black Star
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You know, I've learned a lot from every person I've collaborated with, from Madlib to Jean Grae and Hi-Tek, to Mos to DJ Quik, to even somebody like Jermaine Dupri. I've taken something important away from every experience.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
But you have to be creative on how you sell yourself and market yourself.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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.
Talib Kweli Black Star
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The problem with our role is Americans live in a world of illusion.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
Well if somebody's giving me a script, I'll consider it. But it's not something I'm chasing.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
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.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
We're in an illusion about what our role is in world politics and foreign affairs, and our policies are killing and destroying and doing a lot of things that we are not aware of.
Talib Kweli Black Star
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Hip-hop is a vehicle.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
Honestly, you have to take care of yourself. That's probably something I have learned on the road.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
I think the line is where you're in the studio, you're creating. That belongs to you as an artist. Nothing should taint that. I shouldn't be thinking about what the fans want, I shouldn't be thinking about what the radio wants, what the label wants, what your manager wants, a song for the chicks, a song for the street.
Talib Kweli Black Star -
I don't feel comfortable making empty music.
Talib Kweli Black Star