Talib Kweli

“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.”

“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.”

“When I look at the arc of my career, my focus is on lyricism, right? I own that.”

“Once you're signed to a label you compromise.”

“Skip the religion and politics, head straight to the compassion. Everything else is a distraction.”

“I met Mos Def around that time but I didn't hook up with him until I was about 17 or 18.”

“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.”

“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.”

“There just needs to be a gay rapper. He doesn't have to be flamboyant, just a rapper who identifies as gay - who's better than everybody. Unfortunately hip-hop is so competitive that in order for fringe groups to get in, you gotta be better than whoever's the best.”

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

“But you have to be creative on how you sell yourself and market yourself.”

“I'm at a loss for words. But even my loss is amplified.”

“I tour whether I have album out or not. I tour more than any other hip-hop artist.”

“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.”

“People can be inspired the way I've been inspired by music.”

“Hip-hop is a vehicle.”

“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.”

“Well if somebody's giving me a script, I'll consider it. But it's not something I'm chasing.”

“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.”

“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.”