In this week’s print edition we ran a Q&A with emcee Talib Kweli, former titan of the backpack scene and half of the fabled duo Black Star with Mos Def, who is in town this Friday, Oct. 3 at the Roseland as part of the “Hip Hop Live” show with David Banner and Little Brother. Kweli—whose new joint Party Robot is set to drop early next year—spoke with WW’s Sara Moskovitz about the record industry, gentrification, Barack Obama, Jean Grae and much more. Here’s the full interview. -Ed.

WW: Hi Talib. Are you up for a couple This Or That questions?

Talib Kweli: Sure.

Brooklyn Academy or Brooklyn Zu?

Brooklyn Academy because I grew up in the same neighborhood as those guys.

Spike Lee or Spike Jonze?

Once again, I grew up in the same neighborhood as Spike Lee so I’m going to go with him. I grew up in Park Slope, in that whole downtown area.

SOB’s, APT or Moe’s Bar in Fort Greene?

SOB’s.

Crotona Park or Prospect Park for outdoor hip-hop jams?

I’ve never even heard of that other park so I’ll go with Prospect Park.

You have been making influential music for over a decade now (11 years to be exact). What continues to motivate, excite or surprise you?

Doing shows, definitely. That’s a great motivator. Always being able to develop to new audiences who have never heard of you or your music, that makes it exciting to me.

You just came off of Rock The Bells and now you’re touring with Hip Hop Live! so it’s been a fun year of shows for you.

Yeah. I did a couple of spot shows with Rock The Bells and they set a great example of beautiful hip hop.

These days, with the downloading craze where album sales aren’t what they used to be, is doing shows a financial motivator as well?

For me, I’ve been fortunate enough and I’ve had no choice but to do shows. This whole time, that’s what I’ve been doing. I’m glad everybody is catching up, it’s about time.

Did you realize what was around the bend in terms of the digital download craze at the time you put out Liberation and allowed the album to be downloaded for free?

Well, what was on my radar was that kids these days respond to things that are free, which is different from my generation. Of course everyone responds to free things but this generation sort of expects free things. I think the generation that I came from, you had to support hip-hop—whether it was good or not—you wouldn’t know until you bought it and took it home and listened to it. So it was me realizing that I had to approach my new project differently. In order to drum up new interest in my project, I sort of had to give them something.

How do you feel about this new generation of hip hop artists like the Cool Kids and the Pack and the Officials?

To be honest with you, none of these groups—I’ve met all these guys and they’re like, no pun intended, the coolest kids. It seems like these kids now are realizing when they come in (to the industry) that they have to sell their personalities. And that’s what they’re doing online. As far as the music, I don’t know if any of those groups have made enough music that I’ve heard to warrant a, “You’re dope!” or a, “You’re classic!” as far as musically, but they’re certainly revolutionizing the game and for me, it’s sort of giving me inspiration to approach how I get my music out there.

What do think the game is going to look like in 10 years and would you still want to be a part of it?

Yeah, I mean I feel like I am a part of it no matter what I do. Music is something that follows people so whatever people are going to be into, the music is going to represent it.

You have a quote in one of your interviews where you say, “I don’t live or die for hip-hop. I have a life outside of it.” so what outside hobbies and pursuits does Talib have and what would a retired Talib Kweli look like?

I don’t really have time for hobbies since my hobby is my job. I mean, right now I’m cooking dinner…

What are you cooking?

Baked chicken (chuckles). And then I’ve got to go out tonight to some event and then I’ve got to get up and take the kids to school in the morning so it’s real working-class hip-hop lifestyle that I’m leading right now.

Your new label Blacksmith Records is signed under Warner Bros. which is obviously big business, big money. Why the decision to do that as opposed to funding your own independent label where you would have total creative control?

Oh man, because I ain’t got money like that. If I did, I would definitely do that.

I’ve heard you talk about the ceiling (being with Warner Bros.) and how if they ever really opposed to anything you were doing, they wouldn’t put it out.

Yeah, that’s definitely true. If I ever did anything that they were really, really opposed to, they wouldn’t be obligated to put it out there. But the beauty of maintaining who I am as an artist and not have to have a radio single crack before introducing the new things that I do, is that people already know what to expect from me—and they know what not to expect from me. They know that I’m not just going to do the random radio single and that there might be some politics in my music although I don’t call myself a political artist as much as other people call me a political artist.

You are absolutely a strong advocate for black self-love, self-esteem and self-worth. I just recently saw the latest video from Strong Arm Steady (a three emcee group Talib signed to Blacksmith) for “Can’t Let Go” and it looks very much like a representation of Southern California gang life; sprinklings of the “N” word, scantily-clad women, drug references, police references and Mitchy Slick is a well-known Blood gang member. All of this seems very controversial to the things that you stand for.

I never ever said that the label was going to represent my politics. Or represent the kind of music that I make. The label, Blacksmith, represents music, point blank. And regardless of what Mitchy Slick does in his free time or who these guys are, in my opinion, they make incredible music. And so to that, the only criteria, well not the only criteria but the first criteria in whether or not I even pay attention to somebody is, is this going to be something that’s viable? Will these guys be good on the road and work and sell this? You know? Mitchy Slick and Phil The Agony and Krondon, who, for my entire career almost and every time I come out LA, have really held me down and they’ve really showed me a lot of love. So really, my thing with them was a friendship at first and then I got to know their music and as I got to know their music and to know their work ethic, I was like, wow, these guys are making viable music which is great, and it sounds good and they’re ready to work. As far as my music, you hear the “N” word in my music. I don’t choose to use the “B” word—if my daughter wasn’t here I would say it—but I don’t choose to use it in my work. I think that word, when it comes to women, in hip hop, it’s overexposed. I think that women hear the word so much from rap artists and I choose not to use it but I reserve the right to use if I feel like using it. As Talib Kweli growing up in Park Slope with two professors in Brooklyn, New York, is very different from Mitchy Slick growing up in South East San Diego or Krondon growing up in Crenshaw. So, their music represents where they come from. If you really listen to the music, especially Mitchy and Kron—because Phil is more like an emcee’s emcee—Phil really just raps. Even those there’s songs where they’re talking about violence or sex, Phil is more painting a picture as an observer or an outsider, rather than a participant. Whereas, Kron and Mitch might be more participant in their verses. But if you really listen to their music, you hear all types of themes; you hear violence, you hear sex but you also hear love and redemption and compassion and Mitchy especially – the reason people know about his gang affiliation is because he talks candidly about what it’s like to deal with the FEDS and what it’s like to try and not do that (gang life) and why he’s trying to do music and this and that. I think the attempt to not live like that is making his music get better every time he comes out.

And they’re definitely not one-sided emcees but I wanted to ask about it…

No, please, it’s not often I get to talk about Strong Arm in an interview. I’m glad. I really like these guys and think that their music is going to be great for the West coast.

Of course the other person we’re all excited about is Jean Grae. I was so happy to see her name on your label because it seems like in the past she really hasn’t been able to have the right label behind her to grow and expand as an artist so…

You know what’s crazy about Jean is that there’s something I run into with Jean because—and I don’t know if it’s because she’s from New York or, you know, me and her come from the same scene. Sometimes, and I’m not saying you’re doing this, you seem to be very aware but for people that are not aware of her refer to her like my protégé or some artist that I’m introducing to the world.

Yeah, I’m familiar with Nature Sounds and R.A. The Rugged Man and the whole thing she went through with that.

But the thing that gets me is that question that you just asked me about Strong Arm Steady? I don’t ever get that question about Jean and I would make the argument that if you put Strong Arm Steady up next to Jean that Jean has come way more vulgar and way more offensive than Strong Arm Steady has come. She uses the “N” word, the “B” word, talks about busting a gun, she talks about all types of stuff like that. It’s her delivery man! And she’s a female. The way that she delivers her stuff is not in an abrasive way. So even if she’s rapping in an abrasive style on a track, her voice is like velvet so you’re not even taking it in an abrasive way. It’s interesting to me because she gets hit with that, like she’s a female Kweli but our flows might be similar being that we’re both from New York, our flows might be similar but beyond that her subject matter is very different from mine.

What kind of sound can we expect from her on your label?

The most honest answer in the world is—and this is me talking as Jean’s friend—I wouldn’t even know what to expect from Jean and that’s part of her appeal, that’s part of the reason why we signed her. There’s times when I don’t even hear from Jean and there’s times when she’s bugged out but she’s a real, true artist. Have you ever seen a movie about a real famous artist and the whole world thinks they’re bugging out but they’re just a genius? That’s Jean Grae.

A couple years ago, we saw P. Diddy attempt a huge, youth mobilization voting campaign that didn’t seem to pan out exactly the way he wanted it to. What do you think it will take this year for our youth, particularly the black youth, to get out and vote?

Well, I think what we’re going to see with voter registration—and I don’t know if I’m correct with this because I don’t know the exact numbers but it seems like it’s going up and it seems like it’s been going up in recent years but the idea that you can just tell people to vote, you have the right to vote, just vote and vote for whoever, I don’t agree with that. There’s a lot of youth, young people, who voted for George Bush, in his second term. There’s a lot of people who voted for George Bush and Al Gore in their first term and the election was stolen. I think the idea that you can just vote, is a bad idea. You have to vote for a candidate. You have to vote for someone you’re supporting. If you’re voting just because you have the right, you’re just as dangerous as someone who’s not voting. I think Barack Obama, his candidacy, his grassroots approach, has mobilized a lot of black people and white people. As a black man, especially one with a funny-sounding West African name, I am very proud of Barack. I would be lying to you if I told you I wasn’t happy that he’s so dope and a black man. I’m very proud of that. I think people that say they don’t see color are lying. The fact that he’s black and his life experience has a lot to do with the man he is today. This country likes to live in a fantasy world where they say you can separate those things but I don’t think that you can. But included with and on top of the fact that he’s such a strong black man, he is also, without a doubt, the best candidate. So when I tell people that I support him—and I don’t even agree with everything, I agree with Cynthia McKinney with the Green Party a lot more than I agree with Barack Obama—but the level of playing field that they’re playing on, presidential politics?! When it comes to that, I don’t think someone like Cynthia McKinney has a chance to win that election therefore she doesn’t have a chance to affect the change in that arena. I think Barack Obama has a chance to win, I think he has the chance to affect some type of change and it might be a compromised vision but it’ll be a lot closer to the vision that I’ve had for my children than anything I’ve seen in my life.

Park Slope and Fort Greene and other parts of your beloved hometown Brooklyn are becoming rapidly gentrified, it’s happening here in Portland, which is my hometown, with our oldest, black neighborhoods. How do we solve this?

How do you solve gentrification? I don’t know man, things go back and forth. There’s a movie called, “The Landlord”, starring Bo Bridges. It takes place—I just saw this movie a year ago—starring Bo Bridges and it’s about a white guy from Connecticut, which is where I went to high school at, and he moves down to Park Slope, Brooklyn. It takes place in 1976. He moves down to Park Slope, Brooklyn to buy a brownstone and live there and no one could believe it because in the movie Park Slope is so hood. And the reason the movie is particularly interesting to me is because I grew up in Park Slope when it was turning into a different neighborhood and my grandfather, who is an actor, is in this movie playing Bo Bridges’ driver. So I’m like, wait a minute, there’s a movie that took place on the block I grew up in, starring my grandfather and I’ve never heard of it? But the interesting thing about this movie is that, just watch, a year from now, twenty years from now, it’s going to go back at some point. I think neighborhoods go up and down. At least that’s what it’s like in New York City. I don’t know what it’s like in Portland but like I think about where my aunts live in the Bronx. They live in the condominiums in the Bronx and you can’t really tell the difference between condos and projects, it looks the same to me. The buildings actually look the same to me. They live in the Bronx by Yankee Stadium. Now when they were first building Yankee Stadium, there was probably all white people in those condos. Now, my aunt passed away, what was it, five years ago when I went up there and it was all blacks and Puerto Ricans, there were no white people near Yankee Stadium. I can imagine when they first built Yankee Stadium, it was nothing but white people around there. And right now, they’re building the next stadium in downtown Brooklyn. And they’re gentrifying it. But guess what? Twenty years from now, for the white people, when it gets too crowded, white people are going to move out and black people are going to move back around there and it’ll change up until some other project happens. I don’t know, maybe that’s me sounding old and getting old and my age but I sort of feel like things go in cycles. I mean, you can’t have that injustice. You can’t have people kicked out and put on the street. You’ve got to fight against those things. You can be mad because the neighborhood is losing its appeal but I think it’s one of those things where if you wait long enough, it’ll come back. As fucked up as it is, what do you expect from this country? That’s the order of business. I mean, if you’re someone who’s in that position you have to prepare yourself for that and if you’re someone who has information and you know that you could help people, then it becomes your responsibility to give out that information.

I’m a big fan of Michael Rapaport and being that he’s part of the Blacksmith family, are there any projects we can look out for with him on it?

Yeah, I just did something with him. Him and Nas are doing a documentary about A Tribe Called Quest. He (Michael) just came to my studio last week and we just filmed this conversation. He’s been working on this project all summer. I’ve also been writing a couple scripts and Michael’s been helping me out with that.

Mick Boogie put out a mixtape last year for Little Brother’s And Justus For All and on it were a couple collaboration tracks with you and Little Brother and I was wondering if we can look forward to any collaborations like this on stage when you come to Portland next week for Hip Hop Live!?

I don’t know, but man, I’m sure we’ll do something.

Thanks for your time Talib and happy early birthday.

Links:
Talib KweliSpace

Photo courtesy of Talib Kweli