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Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli Books

Rapper

Talib Kweli, born Kweli Anjum, is an American rapper and music producer. Born on October 3, 1975, he is known for his unique rap style and profound lyrical content. Kweli began his career in the late 1990s and has established himself in the music industry through collaborations with several renowned artists.

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Related Quotes

“You can have your own opinion, but not your own facts.”

Author:Talib Kweli

“I support the idea that artists have to make a stand. I'm with that - you're putting the discussion on the table and you're letting people know. You're being brave as an artist and responsible to the community.”

People Knows Ideas Artist Community Support Responsible Tables Brave Discussion

Author:Talib Kweli

“If you go to a college campus and you do stop and frisk, you're going to find a lot of drugs there too.”

Ifs College Drug Campus College Campus Stop And Frisk

Author:Talib Kweli

“I was kind of just too lazy to take my money out of the bank until I saw how Citi Bank responded to Occupy Wall Street.”

Kind Saws Streets Wall Lazy Occupy Wall Street

Author:Talib Kweli

“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.”

Needs Able Gay Rapper

Author:Talib Kweli

“Unfortunately hip-hop is so competitive that in order for fringe groups to get in, you gotta be better than whoever's the best. So before Eminem, the idea that there would be a white rapper that anybody would really check for was fantastic or amazing or impossible.”

Ideas Would Be Order White Impossible Groups Hip Hop Checks Fantastic Hips Hops Rapper Fringe

Author:Talib Kweli

“People didn't really take white rappers seriously until Eminem, because he was better than everybody. Like female emcees, you need to be like Lauryn Hill or Nicki Minaj or killing everything before somebody takes you seriously.”

People Needs White Female Killing Hills Rapper Emcee

Author:Talib Kweli

“They ask me what I'm writing for - I'm writing to show you what we're fighting for.”

Writing Shows Fighting Asks Ask Me

Author:Talib Kweli

“Love is blind, you just see bright light”

Light Love Is Blind Bright Lights Love Is Blind

Author: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.”

Ifs Knows Artist Leader Fans

Author:Talib Kweli

“"Art Imitates life," of course, is that phrase by Oscar Wilde. I called that song "Art Imitates Life" because Oh No was in the studio and he actually came up with that hook. When I was trying to figure out a name for the record, it just kind of made sense.”

Trying Kind Art Made Song Courses Names Records Figures Studios Phrases Oscars Hook Wilde

Author:Talib Kweli

“My fans like to be romantic. I feel like I'm creating at least at the same level or even a higher level of creativity than I was at twenty-one. I've gotten better as an artist.”

Feels Artist Levels Creativity Fans Higher Creating Twenties Twenty One Higher Level

Author:Talib Kweli

“I feel like I have way more resources, way more experience. I'm better. But my fans romanticize the earlier stuff, and I don't think it's just like a nostalgia thing of "He's not as good" - I think it's because that earlier stuff was aggressively marketed as a lifestyle to them.”

Thinking Way Feels Stuff Fans Resources Nostalgia Lifestyle

Author:Talib Kweli

“I'm spinning records and I look across the restaurant and I see somebody who looks Asian. And I'm like, "Yo, that looks like Yoko Ono." I'm like, oh, I can just meet - that's going to be great. Then I look carefully and I'm like, "That's not Yoko Ono, that's Bruno Mars." And it was Bruno Mars. That just happened recently. I was bugging out. Because that was totally not Yoko Ono at all.”

Looks I Can Records Happened Restaurants Mars Asian Spinning

Author:Talib Kweli

“My parents are my biggest influences. My parents and my city. Brooklyn, New York, New York City, the community I grew up. I don't feel like I'm special in that. I feel like that's everybody.”

Feels Parent Community Cities Influence Special New York Grew Grew Up New York City Brooklyn Brooklyn New York

Author:Talib Kweli

“I feel like your city - with hip hop in particular, because we're always beating our chest and shouting where we're from - your city is just as influential as your parents. Even the grimy, hardcore gangster rap from New York - KRS-One and Wu Tang, the stuff acknowledges it.”

Feels Stuff Parent Cities New York Particular Like You Hip Hop Rap Hips Acknowledge Hops Chests Influential Shouting Gangsters Hardcore Gangster Rap Krs One

Author:Talib Kweli

“I have a luxury of people coming to see me whether I play for the crowd or not. I don't take that lightly.”

People Play Crowds Luxury

Author:Talib Kweli

“I look at the deejay thing as something - I'm good at it because I have my own music. I have enough rhythm to blend at this point.”

Looks Enough My Own Rhythm Deejays

Author:Talib Kweli

“I have such respect for the art of deejaying. I hesitate to even call myself a deejay.”

Author:Talib Kweli

“Everybody could write, deejay, rap. Everybody could do it all.”

Writing Rap Deejays

Author:Talib Kweli

“I feel like people mislead themselves when they tell themselves they're into me because of the lyrics. From my vantage point, people aren't into me because of the content, because of the lyrics. Because there's a million of rappers who have great content.”

People Feels Millions Rapper Mislead Vantage Point

Author:Talib Kweli

“Just because someone has great content doesn't mean you like them as a rapper.”

Author:Talib Kweli

“I think people are into me because of my music choices and my musicality.”

People Thinking Choices Musicality

Author:Talib Kweli

“With Prisoner of Conscience, the focus was - I've worked with Madlib, High Tech, Kanye West, J Dilla. I feel like I've worked with some of the greatest of all time. That's been overlooked. That's been overshadowed by the weight of the lyrics.”

Feels Focus Conscience Weight West All Time Prisoner Overlooked

Author:Talib Kweli

“Hip hop is at its essence a folk music, because it speaks the language that people are still speaking at ground zero, it speaks the language that people speak on the streets.”

People Stills Speak Language Streets Music Is Essence Folks Hip Hop Hips Hops Zero Folk Music Ground Zero

Author:Talib Kweli

“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.”

Kind Stills Country Inspiration Direct Hip Hop Hips Hops Never Ending Unattainable Undying Love

Author:Talib Kweli

“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.”

People Looks Careers One Thing Influence New York Proud Brooklyn Brooklyn New York Underground Music

Author:Talib Kweli

“I like the fact that I can rep New York, but my style does not - I'm not trapped in a New York thing. I can do art songs with other artists and it's seamless.”

Doe Art I Can Facts Artist Song Can Do Style New York Trapped Seamless

Author:Talib Kweli

“Hip hop has always been, for us, for artists who are pure to the craft - any place overseas, whether it's Australia, any place in Asia, Germany, Africa, it becomes something where you can still go and work. Hip hop is an import culture. We're spoiled by it here. It's homegrown.”

Stills Artist Culture Pure Hip Hop Crafts Hips Germany Hops Australia Asia Spoiled Imports Homegrown

Author:Talib Kweli

“You see somebody rapping and you're like, "Nah, my cousin can do that." You're spoiled by the experience. Overseas, it's still something that people can appreciate.”

People Stills Can Do Appreciate Rap Cousin Spoiled My Cousin

Author:Talib Kweli

“Hopefully, we learn to appreciate hip-hop here so that it doesn't go the way of jazz.”

Way Appreciate Jazz Hip Hop Hopefully Hips Hops Learn To Appreciate

Author:Talib Kweli

“Jazz is the greatest American art form and our greatest export. We don't pay attention to the youth of jazz, don't stoke the fires creatively for the youth coming up. I feel like jazz musicians became too much of purists - with Donald Byrd doing funk jazz in the '70s.”

Feels Art Form Pay Attention Fire Too Much Youth Musician Jazz Pay Attention Jazz Music Jazz Musician Funk Stoke

Author:Talib Kweli

“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.”

Trying Different Facts Artist Simple Levels Fans Happenings Hip Hop Hips Hops Different Things Sincere Mainstream Trying Different Things Dissing

Author:Talib Kweli

“But Rawkus is integral to what I do, because the cats who started Rawkus are the first ones who really saw my vision, and gave me a platform to get it out there, so I'm definitely totally grateful for that.”

Firsts Vision Saws Cat Grateful Platforms

Author:Talib Kweli

“But there's so many things in life like women, like children, like God and family that transcends the world of hip-hop.”

World Children Hip Hop Hips Hops Things In Life

Author:Talib Kweli

“Coltrane had a sax, Dale Earnhardt drives a race car and everybody has their tools.”

Race Car Tools Race Car Coltrane

Author: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.”

Ifs Artist Loss Creative Depends Radio Video

Author: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.”

Mind Whole Wanted Sound My Own Versions Joints Cds Mixtapes

Author:Talib Kweli

“I think its man's nature to go to war and fight.”

Thinking Men War Fighting

Author:Talib Kweli

“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.”

Children Enough Found Love Is Rhyming

Author:Talib Kweli

“I will never do a record without some sense of responsibility.”

Responsibility Records Sense Of Responsibility

Author:Talib Kweli

“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.”

People Whole Bunch Outkast

Author:Talib Kweli

“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.”

Way Want Share Let Me Online Do Whatever You Want

Author: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.”

Happens Energy Music Is Determine Exact Sciences

Author: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.”

People Thinking Made Facts Stars Black Albums Classic

Author:Talib Kweli

“War is not civilized.”

Author:Talib Kweli

“I just got a new manager. He's like, "So what do you want to do with the deejay thing?" I'm like, "The deejay thing for me is more my hobby." It's great when you can supplement your income, when you have a weekly or something, it's fun. It's really a hobby, because I don't want it to take away from what I do, which is emceeing.”

Want Fun Income Managers Hobbies Supplements Deejays

Author:Talib Kweli

“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.”

Ifs Looks Levels Hobbies Deejays

Author:Talib Kweli

“I have enough rhythm to blend at this point. I have enough rhythm to blend one song into another. But man, I have such respect for the art of deejaying. I hesitate to even call myself a deejay.”

Men Art Enough Song Rhythm Deejays

Author: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.”

Firsts Happens Messages Senses Relate Dope

Author:Talib Kweli

About the Author

Born: October 3, 1975
Known for: Rapper
Quotes: 150

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Hip Hop People Hips Hops Rap Artist Thinking Ifs Knows Fans

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