The responsibility of an artist is to be honest with themselves. Talib Kweli More Quotes by Talib Kweli More Quotes From Talib Kweli If lyrics sold then truth be told/I'd probably be just as rich and famous as Jay-Z. Talib Kweli truth-be-toldtruth-isrich Honestly, you have to take care of yourself. That's probably something I have learned on the road. Talib Kweli i-have-learnedhonestlycare I have such respect for the art of deejaying. I hesitate to even call myself a deejay. Talib Kweli deejaysart I don't care if Rick Ross is 40 years old -- he's a misguided 40-year-old person. Talib Kweli misguidedcareyears There just needs to be a gay rapper who's better than everybody. That's when that question will no longer be able to be asked. Talib Kweli rappergayneeds 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. Talib Kweli empoweringstruggleorder I see that happening with hip hop purists now. Where you have an artist like a Kendrick [Lamar] or a Drake, who are really trying different things emotionally, different things musically, and on a mainstream level. And you have underground hip hop fans dissing it, for the simple fact that it's mainstream - not because what they're doing is whack, or what they're doing is not sincere. Talib Kweli trying-different-thingsartistsimple We send young white boys to the Army. We're sending young black boys to the prisons. Talib Kweli blackarmyboys I think once you're in the public eye, whether you're a boss, a teacher or whatever you do, that you're automatically in the position of role model. You have people looking up to you, so whether you choose to accept it or not is a different question. Talib Kweli eyeteacherthinking I think hip hop is a dance music that's rebellious by nature. Talib Kweli danceinspirationalthinking War is not civilized. Talib Kweli civilizedwar 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. Talib Kweli basketballinspirationalmemories I'm not looking to set a standard... but, I believe I have offered a challenge to others with my work. Talib Kweli i-believechallengesbelieve When I met you it was magic... Talib Kweli raphip-hopopposites 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. Talib Kweli gratefulnew-yorkfather Life is a beautiful struggle. Talib Kweli strugglelife-isbeautiful 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. Talib Kweli rappermovingthinking 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. Talib Kweli honestyartistbelieve I'm at a loss for words. But even my loss is amplified. Talib Kweli a-loss-for-wordsloss You have to know when to be arrogant. You have to when to be humble. You have to know when to be hard and you have to know when to be soft. Talib Kweli arrogantsquashhumble
