If you ain't using all the talents God provided you with Talib Kweli More Quotes by Talib Kweli More Quotes From Talib Kweli I gotta be dope first. I gotta be appealing to your senses, and to what you like first. Then the message happens. Then you relate to the message. Talib Kweli dope messages firsts Woman are complex creatures. Talib Kweli complexes creatures Let me finish my music, and let me present it the way I want to present it. And then share it, put it online, do whatever you want to do after that. Talib Kweli online want way I'd like to work with Outkast, I'd like to work with RZA, I'd like to work with Timbaland, York, a whole bunch of people. Talib Kweli outkast bunch people I will never do a record without some sense of responsibility. Talib Kweli sense-of-responsibility records responsibility I think its man's nature to go to war and fight. Talib Kweli fighting men war I look at the deejay thing as a tier thing. If I'm not going to compete on that level, I'm just going to do it as a hobby. Talib Kweli hobbies levels looks I was always rhyming and doing it for the love before I found out I was gonna have children and when I found out, doing it for the love wasn't enough. Talib Kweli rhyming love-is children As far as my New York influence, one thing I'm proud of in my career is, I rep Brooklyn, New York all day. But people don't look at my music as New York music. People consider my music underground music. Talib Kweli careers new-york people By the time you get into other kinds of music - R&B, country, or whatever - it becomes something that's romantic. It becomes something unattainable. Never-ending undying love. And in hip hop, we're still taking direct inspiration. Talib Kweli hip-hop inspiration country 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. Talib Kweli leader jobs art 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. Talib Kweli labels majors thinking 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. Talib Kweli hip-hop responsibility thinking 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. Talib Kweli collaboration play writing 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 dope rapper jobs 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 albums careers looks 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 rap kids son 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. Talib Kweli hip-hop balance thinking When I look at the arc of my career, my focus is on lyricism, right? I own that. Talib Kweli focus careers looks Well if somebody's giving me a script, I'll consider it. But it's not something I'm chasing. Talib Kweli chasing scripts giving
