You tend to be thought of as a socially conscious rapper
and someone that makes "responsible music," do
you feel like you are more heavily scrutinized to make a
certain kind of music?
Talib Kweli-Umm. I scrutinize
myself. I don't have to worry about other people.
In "I Try," you say, "disturbed by
the fame like Kurt Cobain." Were you a Nirvana fan?
Talib Kweli-I'm definitely
a Nirvana fan.
What's your favorite album?
Talib Kweli-The one
with "Teen Spirit," Nevermind.
You don't have a image of yourself on your record
cover and you seem to be rather illusive not plastering
your picture everywhere, do you get recognized?
Talib Kweli-No, I
don't get recognized a lot. What it is, is this is my
4th album. I have always pushed to be more artistic than
to just have my face on the cover and I have been shut
down by management and record labels saying you need to
sell your image but I found 3 times in a row my records
have been critically acclaimed, but it hasn't done anything
sales wise so I wanted to do something more closer to
what I wanted to do with the record and management doesn't
agree with it but I feel like in the long run I will feel
better 20 years from now.
Do people try to give you demos a lot at show?
Talib Kweli-Yes
You and Mos Def came together as Black Star and now
you all both have albums out at the same time. I know
he is doing a lot of acting now, but do you all think
you will do any shows together?
Talib Kweli-We do
shows together all the time. Four times this month. If
he's in town he'll do my show, if I'm in town where he
is, vice versa.
How did you get involved with the whole Okayplayer
movement?
Talib Kweli-They sorta
have been great with me and they work with no money and
are very supportive. I went on the Okayplayer tour. They
have always been supportive of my music. I was sorta inducted
into the Okayplayer family and fans and . A lot of people
think of them as Internet nerds and geeks and it's a lot
of bs and they have a lot of heart and soul and to make
sure artist that may not be getting all of the exposure
like the Jaguars get the props and make sure people pay
attention.
Do you get online and post on the message board on
your website and/or do you read the messages?
Talib Kweli- I actually
have someone read them to me, but I don't do it myself
Kanye West gave you a lot of props on The College
Dropout. How do you feel about his seemingly almost sudden
rise to the top of the game as a producer/rapper?
Talib Kweli- Um I
think its well deserved. I think Kanye is someone who
speaks excellent and the truth
What are your long term goals as an entertainer?
Talib Kweli-To do
what I do and to just get better.
Do you think you will ever get into politics?
Talib Kweli- Um, probably
not
I read that you and MOs Def purchased a book store
and turned it into an educational center, is that still
open?
Talib Kweli- Not still
open
As an artist do you feel like you have a lot of creative
control when it comes to choosing your singles and the
way that your videos are made?
Talib Kweli-I have
creative control when it comes to making the album but
I do with singles and videos so you pick a single as how
you want to market. I picked "I Try" because
I figure it will have the most radio play but there were
other songs considered "Broken Glass," "Never
Been In Love," but I felt like "I Try"
would be the best for these DJ's.
What are some of your favorite songs on the album?
Talib Kweli-Um I'm
almost there. It's still new to me so I like everything.
Ask me a year from now.
What songs do you enjoy performing?
Talib Kweli-The songs
"Going Hard," "Back Up Off Me," "We
Got The Beat," "I Try," and I just started
performing "A Game."
There was a situation where some of your tracks on
your album were made available to download far before
the project was due to be released. Did you scrap a lot
of tracks and start over or did you try to just go forward
with the project as best as possible.
Talib Kweli- I didn't
scrap anything. Some of the songs I was considering for
the album got leaked and I used them as other things
Do you feel like you have made it as an artist or
are your still struggling to get to where you want to
be?
Talib Kweli-No, I
definitely have not made it. I've made it as I am successful
but there is a large degree of success I haven't reached.
Do you ever read your own album reviews?
Talib Kweli-I do all
the time. I never go on the Internet.
How come Jean Grae's name didn't make it on the back of
the cover as a guest rapper on Black Girl Pain, was it
a typo?
Talib Kweli- It was
just a mistake. It will be on the second printing.
Your musical influences?
Talib Kweli-Too many
to name
Visit Talib Kweli online at www.talibkweli.com
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