Talib Kweli Quotes about Rap

Life without knowledge is death in disguise.

A flower that grow in the ghetto know more about survival than the one from fresh meadows.

You gotta get back to your essence, Use your gifts and share your presence, Don't count your dollars 'til you count your blessings.

Do the math: You never settle for less than the whole if you knew the half.

Just because no one can understand how you speak, Don't necessarily mean that what you be sayin is deep.

If you ain't using all the talents God provided you with For the betterment of Man, understand, You ain't nothing but a waste.

Nowadays rap artists coming half-hearted, Commercial like pop, or underground like black markets. Where were you the day hip-hop died? Is it too early to mourn? Is it too late to ride?

When I met you it was magic... We polar opposites, but attracted like we was magnets.

Consider me the entity within the industry without a history of spitting the epitome of stupidity.

They hope for the Apocalypse like a self-fulfilling prophecy Tell me when do we stop it? Do they ask you your religion before you rent an apartment? Is the answer burning Korans so that we can defend Islamics?

Why give you the cure when the disease makes money?

These niggaz ain't thugs, the real thugs is the government. Don't matter if you Independent, Democrat or Republican, Niggaz politickin' the street, get into beef, Start blastin'...now a new cat is executive chief.

I started rapping because I wanted people to hear what I have to say, I want as many people to hear me as possible, and I do everything in my power to make that pop.

God gave us music, so we play with our words.

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.

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?

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

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.

We speak the love language, they speak from pain and anguish. Some don't love theyselves, so they perception is tainted.