TALIB KWELI - NEW ALBUM GRAVITAS OFFICIAL ALBUM THREAD
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http://www.examiner.com/article/q-a-with-talib-kweli
February 18, 2014
Just a few months after releasing his fifth solo album, Prisoner of Conscious, Talib Kweli came back with his sixth solo release, Gravitas. Gravitas was different from Kweli’s previously releases as it was offered to fans directly from Kweli.
On December 15, 2013, Gravitas was released via Talib Kweli’s website, KweliClub.com, with no middleman involved. If you purchase the album, you’ll get it e-mailed to you directly from Talib Kweli.
Taking this revolutionary concept a step further, Kweli released Gravitas today on CD and vinyl.
Talib Kweli recently spoke to Examiner.com about his foray into deejaying, his opinion on the success of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and his new album, Gravitas.
SS: Your latest album Gravitas was released in an unconventional way. Why’d you decide to cut out the middleman and sell the album directly to fans?
Talib Kweli: That’s kind of where I think the music for independent artists is evolving to. I wasn’t necessarily trying to do that so soon -- I had just dropped Prisoner of Conscious. Ryan Leslie came to me with the idea for the platform he had built and he was successful with it. He was just excited about Ryan Leslie. He was excited about the idea. This really was the most experimental album I’ve ever dropped. Maybe Liberation was more experimental ‘cause we just kind of dropped it out the blue for free, but as far as an album being for sale, this is the most experimental I’ve been.
SS: Were you pleased with the response from fans?
Talib Kweli: So far it’s a slow burn. The vast majority of my fans don’t even know it’s out. I’m pleased that I have a project that I completely own that has the opportunity for so much growth. We’re really just getting started. February 18th when the CD comes out we’re going to do a slightly more elaborate push than we did on December 15th.
SS: Explain the title of the album, Gravitas.
Talib Kweli: Gravitas is a word that’s overused by pretentious political commentators and academia, but it’s something that I think Hip-Hop definitely can use more of. At my age and place in this game I’m an artist in a position that can add some gravitas to the Hip-Hop field.
SS: How is Gravitas different from Prisoner of Conscious?
Talib Kweli: Gravitas is more laser-focused. Prisoner of Conscious is me saying I wanna try things. It’s me trying different beats, different ideas, and different collaborators. Gravitas does have collaborators but they’re not as varied and the music is not as varied as the music on Prisoner of Conscious. I’m definitely super-proud of both projects but they are different. My focus on Prisoner of Conscious was trying to make great songs -- songs that could exist in the world of Hip-Hop or not in the world of Hip-Hop. I think Gravitas is more laser-focused on the type of Hip-Hop that I’m good at.
SS: You have a J Dilla beat on the album, which is a nice surprise. Was that one you had in the vault or did you get that one recently?
Talib Kweli: I was just given it recently. It’s actually a song that was worked on for Prisoner of Conscious. With the subject matter of the song, I felt like I had explored those themes well with Prisoner of Conscious. I actually saved the song for a different time.
February 18, 2014
Just a few months after releasing his fifth solo album, Prisoner of Conscious, Talib Kweli came back with his sixth solo release, Gravitas. Gravitas was different from Kweli’s previously releases as it was offered to fans directly from Kweli.
On December 15, 2013, Gravitas was released via Talib Kweli’s website, KweliClub.com, with no middleman involved. If you purchase the album, you’ll get it e-mailed to you directly from Talib Kweli.
Taking this revolutionary concept a step further, Kweli released Gravitas today on CD and vinyl.
Talib Kweli recently spoke to Examiner.com about his foray into deejaying, his opinion on the success of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and his new album, Gravitas.
SS: Your latest album Gravitas was released in an unconventional way. Why’d you decide to cut out the middleman and sell the album directly to fans?
Talib Kweli: That’s kind of where I think the music for independent artists is evolving to. I wasn’t necessarily trying to do that so soon -- I had just dropped Prisoner of Conscious. Ryan Leslie came to me with the idea for the platform he had built and he was successful with it. He was just excited about Ryan Leslie. He was excited about the idea. This really was the most experimental album I’ve ever dropped. Maybe Liberation was more experimental ‘cause we just kind of dropped it out the blue for free, but as far as an album being for sale, this is the most experimental I’ve been.
SS: Were you pleased with the response from fans?
Talib Kweli: So far it’s a slow burn. The vast majority of my fans don’t even know it’s out. I’m pleased that I have a project that I completely own that has the opportunity for so much growth. We’re really just getting started. February 18th when the CD comes out we’re going to do a slightly more elaborate push than we did on December 15th.
SS: Explain the title of the album, Gravitas.
Talib Kweli: Gravitas is a word that’s overused by pretentious political commentators and academia, but it’s something that I think Hip-Hop definitely can use more of. At my age and place in this game I’m an artist in a position that can add some gravitas to the Hip-Hop field.
SS: How is Gravitas different from Prisoner of Conscious?
Talib Kweli: Gravitas is more laser-focused. Prisoner of Conscious is me saying I wanna try things. It’s me trying different beats, different ideas, and different collaborators. Gravitas does have collaborators but they’re not as varied and the music is not as varied as the music on Prisoner of Conscious. I’m definitely super-proud of both projects but they are different. My focus on Prisoner of Conscious was trying to make great songs -- songs that could exist in the world of Hip-Hop or not in the world of Hip-Hop. I think Gravitas is more laser-focused on the type of Hip-Hop that I’m good at.
SS: You have a J Dilla beat on the album, which is a nice surprise. Was that one you had in the vault or did you get that one recently?
Talib Kweli: I was just given it recently. It’s actually a song that was worked on for Prisoner of Conscious. With the subject matter of the song, I felt like I had explored those themes well with Prisoner of Conscious. I actually saved the song for a different time.
SS: Do you think touring with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis expanded your fan base?
Talib Kweli: God willing it did. I can’t quantify it but I’m sure it did. When I was going into that tour I went into it thinking that it was a great reason among many to be on that tour.
SS: What’s your take on the backlash that Macklemore’s received from his Grammy win and people implying he’s not Hip-Hop?
Talib Kweli: I think he’s handled it graciously. From what I know about Macklemore, he is someone that sees this stuff coming way before it gets to him. First of all the Grammys have never been accurate as far as what’s the best out. They’ve always been about who is the most visible and who appeals to mainstream white America. So there should be no surprise that artists like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis win Best Rap Album. People should not be shocked by it. If people want to do something about it, what you can do as a consumer is buy more Kendrick Lamar albums. You can voice your opinion as a consumer as Macklemore did when he said he felt the award should go to Kendrick. I think the most accurate criticism of it is for him to accept the award he’s enjoying white privilege. Clearly that award was given to him not because in the realm of Hip-Hop people feel like The Heist was the best album. It was given to him because he was the most accessible artist to a mainstream white audience.
He has a song called ‘White Privilege’ that was released years ago where he talks explicitly about what happened at the Grammys. I think the things he’s done on stage and the way he’s hustled his music… whether you feel like it was tasteful or not to share the text with Kendrick Lamar, the fact that he was even texting Kendrick to be like, “Yo, you got robbed,” people feel like he should have given it to Kendrick. I’m not a white artist but I wouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have given the Grammy that I bust my ass for to earn. I wouldn’t have given my Grammy to another artist but I definitely would have acknowledged it. Everybody might feel different about that. I don’t think you can say that if you aren’t in that position that crew, and it’s not just Macklemore, it’s Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, ain’t worked hard.
SS: No question. I interviewed Macklemore some years ago and I remember asking him about his influences and it was Rawkus and Wu-Tang. This idea that he’s not Hip-Hop really bothers me. It’s inaccurate.
Talib Kweli: The purist thing about Hip-Hop is very limited, archaic and kind of backwards. I take it personal sometimes. I put up a picture on Instagram of me from my video shoot for ‘Violations’ with Raekwon and I had on a pair of white sunglasses. I like white sunglasses, I wear them often – I think it’s fly. Someone put a quote of a Joell Ortiz thing where he said, “Let me break your white sunglasses, we don’t do that in Hip-Hop.” Now, Joell Ortiz is my homeboy. He don’t gotta like white sunglasses and he don’t gotta like tight jeans. I like wearing tight jeans sometimes. Sometimes I wear my jeans tight and sometimes I wear ‘em baggy. Sometimes I wear white sunglasses, sometimes I wear black sunglasses, but whatever I f*ckin’ do is Hip-Hop. That’s how I feel about it. I feel like I’m so Hip-Hop and I’ve put so much time and effort into this culture that whatever I do is Hip-Hop. No matter what nobody say. And I feel like Macklemore has earned the same thing with his dedication to his music and his craft.
SS: You’ve been deejaying for a while now. What made you decide to get into that aspect of the culture?
Talib Kweli: I love music. I have a great, great love of music. Often I would find myself hogging the radio in the car. When I have people at the crib I’m very excited about what I’ll play when people come to the crib. These are just qualities that DJ’s have and because I have a name people are going to want to come and see me spin and hear what I like. It just became another revenue stream. I’ve been doing it for a few years; I’m not at the point where I feel like I’m proficient. I have confidence in my scratching and mixing skills. I can mix the song on time the majority of the time – not every time. I’m just real basic, but I feel like my selection, my musicality, and my music knowledge is competitive with good DJ’s. I still give respect to the people who do it because I do it as a side thing, for real. It’s really a side thing. It’s not something that’s my life’s blood like a lot of DJ’s out here so I give respect to the DJ’s that really do it for real.
Talib Kweli: God willing it did. I can’t quantify it but I’m sure it did. When I was going into that tour I went into it thinking that it was a great reason among many to be on that tour.
SS: What’s your take on the backlash that Macklemore’s received from his Grammy win and people implying he’s not Hip-Hop?
Talib Kweli: I think he’s handled it graciously. From what I know about Macklemore, he is someone that sees this stuff coming way before it gets to him. First of all the Grammys have never been accurate as far as what’s the best out. They’ve always been about who is the most visible and who appeals to mainstream white America. So there should be no surprise that artists like Macklemore and Ryan Lewis win Best Rap Album. People should not be shocked by it. If people want to do something about it, what you can do as a consumer is buy more Kendrick Lamar albums. You can voice your opinion as a consumer as Macklemore did when he said he felt the award should go to Kendrick. I think the most accurate criticism of it is for him to accept the award he’s enjoying white privilege. Clearly that award was given to him not because in the realm of Hip-Hop people feel like The Heist was the best album. It was given to him because he was the most accessible artist to a mainstream white audience.
He has a song called ‘White Privilege’ that was released years ago where he talks explicitly about what happened at the Grammys. I think the things he’s done on stage and the way he’s hustled his music… whether you feel like it was tasteful or not to share the text with Kendrick Lamar, the fact that he was even texting Kendrick to be like, “Yo, you got robbed,” people feel like he should have given it to Kendrick. I’m not a white artist but I wouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have given the Grammy that I bust my ass for to earn. I wouldn’t have given my Grammy to another artist but I definitely would have acknowledged it. Everybody might feel different about that. I don’t think you can say that if you aren’t in that position that crew, and it’s not just Macklemore, it’s Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, ain’t worked hard.
SS: No question. I interviewed Macklemore some years ago and I remember asking him about his influences and it was Rawkus and Wu-Tang. This idea that he’s not Hip-Hop really bothers me. It’s inaccurate.
Talib Kweli: The purist thing about Hip-Hop is very limited, archaic and kind of backwards. I take it personal sometimes. I put up a picture on Instagram of me from my video shoot for ‘Violations’ with Raekwon and I had on a pair of white sunglasses. I like white sunglasses, I wear them often – I think it’s fly. Someone put a quote of a Joell Ortiz thing where he said, “Let me break your white sunglasses, we don’t do that in Hip-Hop.” Now, Joell Ortiz is my homeboy. He don’t gotta like white sunglasses and he don’t gotta like tight jeans. I like wearing tight jeans sometimes. Sometimes I wear my jeans tight and sometimes I wear ‘em baggy. Sometimes I wear white sunglasses, sometimes I wear black sunglasses, but whatever I f*ckin’ do is Hip-Hop. That’s how I feel about it. I feel like I’m so Hip-Hop and I’ve put so much time and effort into this culture that whatever I do is Hip-Hop. No matter what nobody say. And I feel like Macklemore has earned the same thing with his dedication to his music and his craft.
SS: You’ve been deejaying for a while now. What made you decide to get into that aspect of the culture?
Talib Kweli: I love music. I have a great, great love of music. Often I would find myself hogging the radio in the car. When I have people at the crib I’m very excited about what I’ll play when people come to the crib. These are just qualities that DJ’s have and because I have a name people are going to want to come and see me spin and hear what I like. It just became another revenue stream. I’ve been doing it for a few years; I’m not at the point where I feel like I’m proficient. I have confidence in my scratching and mixing skills. I can mix the song on time the majority of the time – not every time. I’m just real basic, but I feel like my selection, my musicality, and my music knowledge is competitive with good DJ’s. I still give respect to the people who do it because I do it as a side thing, for real. It’s really a side thing. It’s not something that’s my life’s blood like a lot of DJ’s out here so I give respect to the DJ’s that really do it for real.
SS: I interviewed DJ Premier a few years ago and asked him if he played any Premier music when he deejayed and he said, “Yeah, that’s what people wanna hear.” Do you play Kweli records?
Talib Kweli: Premier plays Gang Starr records, Pete Rock does a great “Pete Rock” set if you ever see him deejay. He does a super-dope Pete Rock set. No, I don’t do it. I do it on request every once in a while. Sometimes being an emcee first it don’t matter what you came to do, the people came to see you rap. Even if it’s not fair they’re going to be disappointed. If you’re like, “But I ain’t get paid to rap,” they’re going to feel disappointed if you didn’t rap. That’s going to be the story, not that you didn’t get paid, but that you refused to rap. There’s been times when I’ve been paid to deejay and I’ve had to throw in some of my records just to keep the crowd happy. I don’t like having to do that but sometimes it’s not the crowds fault so I do it anyway. When I deejay I don’t particularly play a lot of my music. When I deejay I’m not deejaying for you to stand around, bob you head, and listen. I’m deejaying for you to dance. People at this point dance to what they’re familiar with. I’ll do a mix of ‘Get By’ and then ‘Sinner Man’. I got the Chris Brown remix that I’ll do, me and Mos Def over ‘Rock Steady’ which is only a record that I have. I’ll play some sh*t like that rather than just try to play my new single. I try to be creative with it. I’m not up there just trying to play my stuff. I have more fun playing other peoples sh*t. I still got that ego thing where I don’t want you to think I just wanna listen to my sh*t all the time.
SS: I’ve always wanted to ask one of you guys this, The Spitkickers tour in 2000. That was one of the most fun shows I’ve ever gone to. It was like a backpacker’s wet dream -- it was so much fun. I think the continuity of the show made it that way. There were no breaks in between acts which made it really dope. What memories do you have from that tour and was it as fun as it looked to the fans?
Talib Kweli: That was my first major tour ever. I learned a lot. Me and Hi-Tek were the youngest on the tour. We were on tour with people who had done it a long time. Biz Markie, De La Soul, my favorite group of all-time. I grew up and became a man on that tour basically. It was like a bunch of dudes looting and pillaging every city. We were running through every city like, “Raaaahhh!” No women were on the tour other than the women we met that night. I was on beast mode on that tour certainly! I got home from that tour and I was going to bed at night and I’d wake up and my whole bed would be covered in sweat for two days straight. I went to the doctor. I was scared, I thought something had happened to me and the doctor was like, “No, you’re exhausted. The toxins are leaving your body. You need to just not do sh*t for like a week.” That tour was definitely like an experience and an education for me. I was drinking, smoking too much, f*kin’ doing mushrooms. I had to stop doing mushrooms from that experience. That tour was just too much for me.
SS: That’s more fun than I thought it was [laughs].
Talib Kweli: [Laughs] The tour was crazy! Okayplayer was next and I calmed down. I learned a lot so I reigned it in a little bit.
SS: That tour was almost the same concept, too. I loved that tour a lot. It seemed like a lot of fun. I know things are different now but I think Hip-Hop kind of needs something like that again. I’ve seen you probably a million times, man. I saw you and Common perform at this little bar called Joe’s in Chicago and it was crazy. You always rock it, but do you ever get tired of being on the road?
Talib Kweli: Oh yeah I do, definitely. Part of KweliClub is I want to see if I can do something where money is rolling in while I’m sitting at the crib or on a beach somewhere. I want my music and what I’ve put out in the game already to work for me, opposed to me having to show up live in the flesh. I do enjoy being on the road. It’s probably what I enjoy most about Hip-Hop is the connection with the fans, but I’ve been doing this for a long time.
SS: You ever read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki?
Talib Kweli: Yeah.
SS: He talks about how poor people work for money, while rich people make their money work for them. I’m trying to figure out how to get that going for my life [laughs].
Talib Kweli: Yeah, definitely.
SS: I wanted to ask you about Kanye. I remember seeing you on the tour with Gang Starr, Common, and Floetry where you brought Kanye out and nobody knew who he was. What did you teach him about performing at that stage before he came out with his first album?
Talib Kweli: He already had a vision for how he wanted to do it. I think I showed him that if you stay on the road you’ll always connect with the people. Kanye has put a lot into his touring and a lot into his shows, much more than the superstars that were around when he became really big. I think Jay-Z learned how to tour from watching Kanye. Kanye from the time he came out has been on the road. These big superstars don’t do it like that. Now you’re seeing artists like Drake learn that. Drake rolls out when it’s time to roll out. I was wondering why people that came out the same time as me but became more commercially successful like The Lox or Fabolous or artists like that weren’t touring like how I was touring. I would go off to Europe and be like, “Yo, dudes need to be out here way more often!”
Talib Kweli: Premier plays Gang Starr records, Pete Rock does a great “Pete Rock” set if you ever see him deejay. He does a super-dope Pete Rock set. No, I don’t do it. I do it on request every once in a while. Sometimes being an emcee first it don’t matter what you came to do, the people came to see you rap. Even if it’s not fair they’re going to be disappointed. If you’re like, “But I ain’t get paid to rap,” they’re going to feel disappointed if you didn’t rap. That’s going to be the story, not that you didn’t get paid, but that you refused to rap. There’s been times when I’ve been paid to deejay and I’ve had to throw in some of my records just to keep the crowd happy. I don’t like having to do that but sometimes it’s not the crowds fault so I do it anyway. When I deejay I don’t particularly play a lot of my music. When I deejay I’m not deejaying for you to stand around, bob you head, and listen. I’m deejaying for you to dance. People at this point dance to what they’re familiar with. I’ll do a mix of ‘Get By’ and then ‘Sinner Man’. I got the Chris Brown remix that I’ll do, me and Mos Def over ‘Rock Steady’ which is only a record that I have. I’ll play some sh*t like that rather than just try to play my new single. I try to be creative with it. I’m not up there just trying to play my stuff. I have more fun playing other peoples sh*t. I still got that ego thing where I don’t want you to think I just wanna listen to my sh*t all the time.
SS: I’ve always wanted to ask one of you guys this, The Spitkickers tour in 2000. That was one of the most fun shows I’ve ever gone to. It was like a backpacker’s wet dream -- it was so much fun. I think the continuity of the show made it that way. There were no breaks in between acts which made it really dope. What memories do you have from that tour and was it as fun as it looked to the fans?
Talib Kweli: That was my first major tour ever. I learned a lot. Me and Hi-Tek were the youngest on the tour. We were on tour with people who had done it a long time. Biz Markie, De La Soul, my favorite group of all-time. I grew up and became a man on that tour basically. It was like a bunch of dudes looting and pillaging every city. We were running through every city like, “Raaaahhh!” No women were on the tour other than the women we met that night. I was on beast mode on that tour certainly! I got home from that tour and I was going to bed at night and I’d wake up and my whole bed would be covered in sweat for two days straight. I went to the doctor. I was scared, I thought something had happened to me and the doctor was like, “No, you’re exhausted. The toxins are leaving your body. You need to just not do sh*t for like a week.” That tour was definitely like an experience and an education for me. I was drinking, smoking too much, f*kin’ doing mushrooms. I had to stop doing mushrooms from that experience. That tour was just too much for me.
SS: That’s more fun than I thought it was [laughs].
Talib Kweli: [Laughs] The tour was crazy! Okayplayer was next and I calmed down. I learned a lot so I reigned it in a little bit.
SS: That tour was almost the same concept, too. I loved that tour a lot. It seemed like a lot of fun. I know things are different now but I think Hip-Hop kind of needs something like that again. I’ve seen you probably a million times, man. I saw you and Common perform at this little bar called Joe’s in Chicago and it was crazy. You always rock it, but do you ever get tired of being on the road?
Talib Kweli: Oh yeah I do, definitely. Part of KweliClub is I want to see if I can do something where money is rolling in while I’m sitting at the crib or on a beach somewhere. I want my music and what I’ve put out in the game already to work for me, opposed to me having to show up live in the flesh. I do enjoy being on the road. It’s probably what I enjoy most about Hip-Hop is the connection with the fans, but I’ve been doing this for a long time.
SS: You ever read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki?
Talib Kweli: Yeah.
SS: He talks about how poor people work for money, while rich people make their money work for them. I’m trying to figure out how to get that going for my life [laughs].
Talib Kweli: Yeah, definitely.
SS: I wanted to ask you about Kanye. I remember seeing you on the tour with Gang Starr, Common, and Floetry where you brought Kanye out and nobody knew who he was. What did you teach him about performing at that stage before he came out with his first album?
Talib Kweli: He already had a vision for how he wanted to do it. I think I showed him that if you stay on the road you’ll always connect with the people. Kanye has put a lot into his touring and a lot into his shows, much more than the superstars that were around when he became really big. I think Jay-Z learned how to tour from watching Kanye. Kanye from the time he came out has been on the road. These big superstars don’t do it like that. Now you’re seeing artists like Drake learn that. Drake rolls out when it’s time to roll out. I was wondering why people that came out the same time as me but became more commercially successful like The Lox or Fabolous or artists like that weren’t touring like how I was touring. I would go off to Europe and be like, “Yo, dudes need to be out here way more often!”
SS: I’ve talked to a lot of artists that have said Europe is where it’s at as far as Hip-Hop...
Talib Kweli: Yeah, you wanna be poppin’ in the States to be honest on some business sh*t. Because when you’re poppin’ in the States you’re poppin’ everywhere. If you’re poppin’ in the States you can make it happen everywhere. You gotta go out there and stroke and massage those relationships to where if you got a single or not you can go out there and get some money. Too many artists got caught up in not having product or a single out so they only tour when they got something to tour about. That’s not the way to do it.
SS: I’m 37 so I remember seeing acts like Run-DMC, Whodini, LL Cool J, and Eric B & Rakim live when I was 12-13 years old. To me they were rock stars. They played in big stadiums. I saw Rakim come out of a pyramid and there were all sorts of theatrics. That’s kind of what Kanye is doing now. Something happened in the middle where it became smaller. Why did rap shows become less spectacular in the 90s?
Talib Kweli: Because assembly line music took over. You had artists that were building an audience but the way they were going about building an audience was not the same way. You had this assembly line mentality of the record labels that were looking at what was poppin’ down south. You had independent artists who weren’t getting no love on the coast creating their own movement and their music was defined by where they were getting play at, like strip clubs, and juke joints. The focus of the music became less lyrical and more about dancing and partying. The focus of the beats became less about intricate gritty samples and more about bounce. What’s going to make you bounce? That music because it had to grow on its own developed such a fan base. When these labels came in and saw that these artists had developed fan bases already, and you don’t have to pay for samples, and it’s music about going to the club which seemed more fun, that became what the industry focused on. Down South is way bigger than the coast. It goes from Texas to Florida – that’s a lot of people. You saw the influence in that. Those artists weren’t coming up rapping in parks and battling. Those artists were coming up as a hustle. They were maybe taking their song to the club and doing a verse in the club over their vocals. So then you start seeing arena shows with that type of music where dudes just rock over the record. It comes from rockin’ it in the club as opposed to rockin’ it in the park and then jumping on a showcase and an open mic. It was none of that. That’s why you see sort of a disdain from those artists like, “I ain’t on that Hip-Hop backpack sh*t.”
SS: On the song ‘The Wormhole’ you kind of took aim at conspiracy theorists. What inspired that song?
Talib Kweli: People being distracted and asking me stupid sh*t like, “Are you in the Illuminati?” People are trying to really wholeheartedly convince me that Jay-Z and Kanye West are members of the Illuminati and in blood cults and sh*t like that. It’s the most ridiculous lame sh*t ever. In an age where Hip-Hop is bigger and more information is being spread, the misinformation being spread is more dangerous than the lack of information. I’d rather not know sh*t than know some stupid sh*t. Whole heartedly believing some stupid sh*t is really affecting how they move through the world.
SS: It’s real to some people, man. Those people kind of scare me a little bit.
Talib Kweli: What’s real is that there is a ruling class that conspires to make life easier for themselves and their future generations. That’s just the way of the world. That’s not something to be frozen up in fear about or to be making connections with. I don’t think Edward Snowden is worried about the Illuminati. I think he’s just about freedom of information. There are people like that doing real sh*t in the world who are not getting support from these conservative, bible thumping, f*cking Birch Society, fake Illuminati people.
SS: What can we expect from Kweli in 2014?
Talib Kweli: I’m working on a bunch of things. Gravitas I’m pushing and I’m still pushing Prisoner of Conscious. We’ll let that do its own thing at this point. We’re doing a physical release for Gravitas on February 18th. We have a couple of videos. We’re going to do an animated video for ‘State of Grace’. We shot the video for ‘Violations’ with Raekwon. I’m still excited about Cory Mo’s album, Take It or Leave It which dropped in October. Javotti has a lot of new artists that I’m excited about that I’m about to put the final deal together for. I’m trying to get a Liberation 2 together. I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not but I’m working on that. I’m excited about the Black Star shows we got coming up in London and Munich. We’re going to do some more Black Star touring this year.
SS: In the States as well?
Talib Kweli: I don’t know about that yet [laughs].
Talib Kweli: Yeah, you wanna be poppin’ in the States to be honest on some business sh*t. Because when you’re poppin’ in the States you’re poppin’ everywhere. If you’re poppin’ in the States you can make it happen everywhere. You gotta go out there and stroke and massage those relationships to where if you got a single or not you can go out there and get some money. Too many artists got caught up in not having product or a single out so they only tour when they got something to tour about. That’s not the way to do it.
SS: I’m 37 so I remember seeing acts like Run-DMC, Whodini, LL Cool J, and Eric B & Rakim live when I was 12-13 years old. To me they were rock stars. They played in big stadiums. I saw Rakim come out of a pyramid and there were all sorts of theatrics. That’s kind of what Kanye is doing now. Something happened in the middle where it became smaller. Why did rap shows become less spectacular in the 90s?
Talib Kweli: Because assembly line music took over. You had artists that were building an audience but the way they were going about building an audience was not the same way. You had this assembly line mentality of the record labels that were looking at what was poppin’ down south. You had independent artists who weren’t getting no love on the coast creating their own movement and their music was defined by where they were getting play at, like strip clubs, and juke joints. The focus of the music became less lyrical and more about dancing and partying. The focus of the beats became less about intricate gritty samples and more about bounce. What’s going to make you bounce? That music because it had to grow on its own developed such a fan base. When these labels came in and saw that these artists had developed fan bases already, and you don’t have to pay for samples, and it’s music about going to the club which seemed more fun, that became what the industry focused on. Down South is way bigger than the coast. It goes from Texas to Florida – that’s a lot of people. You saw the influence in that. Those artists weren’t coming up rapping in parks and battling. Those artists were coming up as a hustle. They were maybe taking their song to the club and doing a verse in the club over their vocals. So then you start seeing arena shows with that type of music where dudes just rock over the record. It comes from rockin’ it in the club as opposed to rockin’ it in the park and then jumping on a showcase and an open mic. It was none of that. That’s why you see sort of a disdain from those artists like, “I ain’t on that Hip-Hop backpack sh*t.”
SS: On the song ‘The Wormhole’ you kind of took aim at conspiracy theorists. What inspired that song?
Talib Kweli: People being distracted and asking me stupid sh*t like, “Are you in the Illuminati?” People are trying to really wholeheartedly convince me that Jay-Z and Kanye West are members of the Illuminati and in blood cults and sh*t like that. It’s the most ridiculous lame sh*t ever. In an age where Hip-Hop is bigger and more information is being spread, the misinformation being spread is more dangerous than the lack of information. I’d rather not know sh*t than know some stupid sh*t. Whole heartedly believing some stupid sh*t is really affecting how they move through the world.
SS: It’s real to some people, man. Those people kind of scare me a little bit.
Talib Kweli: What’s real is that there is a ruling class that conspires to make life easier for themselves and their future generations. That’s just the way of the world. That’s not something to be frozen up in fear about or to be making connections with. I don’t think Edward Snowden is worried about the Illuminati. I think he’s just about freedom of information. There are people like that doing real sh*t in the world who are not getting support from these conservative, bible thumping, f*cking Birch Society, fake Illuminati people.
SS: What can we expect from Kweli in 2014?
Talib Kweli: I’m working on a bunch of things. Gravitas I’m pushing and I’m still pushing Prisoner of Conscious. We’ll let that do its own thing at this point. We’re doing a physical release for Gravitas on February 18th. We have a couple of videos. We’re going to do an animated video for ‘State of Grace’. We shot the video for ‘Violations’ with Raekwon. I’m still excited about Cory Mo’s album, Take It or Leave It which dropped in October. Javotti has a lot of new artists that I’m excited about that I’m about to put the final deal together for. I’m trying to get a Liberation 2 together. I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not but I’m working on that. I’m excited about the Black Star shows we got coming up in London and Munich. We’re going to do some more Black Star touring this year.
SS: In the States as well?
Talib Kweli: I don’t know about that yet [laughs].
Joe American
Banned
Talib!
Myrical Lyfe
In the Gutter, of the Tunnel
I'll be copping the blue vinyl
Talib Kweli is on the Melissa Harris-Perry show discussing whether or not "Are rap lyrics admissible in a criminal trial?"
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry
Click the above url and click the video ticker to the right to videos number 10 & 11. I wish this conversation was longer because it started to get really good.
http://www.2dopeboyz.com/2014/02/25/talib-kweli-9th-wonder-joint-album/
I haven't watched this but it says that Kweli and 9th are going to work on an album. Probably wishful thinking but would be dope nonetheless.
http://www.msnbc.com/melissa-harris-perry
Click the above url and click the video ticker to the right to videos number 10 & 11. I wish this conversation was longer because it started to get really good.
http://www.2dopeboyz.com/2014/02/25/talib-kweli-9th-wonder-joint-album/
I haven't watched this but it says that Kweli and 9th are going to work on an album. Probably wishful thinking but would be dope nonetheless.
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Talib Coli.