Talib Kweli Asks Why Eminem & Biggie Are Not Questioned...i

[Koolo2010]

Talib Kweli clarifies his comments about Rick Ross and Lil Wayne's lyrics, and talks about double standards in hip hop.

Talib Kweli has been a vocal presence in the controversies around Rick Ross and Lil Wayne's lyrics. The rapper has said that he is dissatisfied with the lack of a proper apology given by Ross for his date-rape referencing lyrics on "U.O.E.N.O." , and Wayne for his distasteful Emmett Till line. The Black Star rapper has also spoken out about hip hop lyrics in general, and how there are double standards in who hip hop fans give passes to when it comes to questionable lyrical content. Kweli cleared up some of his statements in an interview with Hot 97 today, clarifying that he has no problems with the artists in question, but does feel that they are capable of doing wrong.

Talib first spoke on how his words had been twisted in blog posts, and the importance of expressing your opinion. "The blogs have been getting on me saying I've got opinions about Ross or opinions about Lil Wayne. I'm like, 'Yo, I've got opinions just like the next man.' But I'm glad through social media you can get it straight from the horse's mouth. You can go on my Twitter and find out what I really think as opposed to trusting what a blog might have to say about me. But I've got my opinions just like anybody else in Hip Hop. And I'm not no authority on Rick Ross or Lil Wayne or anybody else. I'm not no authority. I don't make no demands. I don't have no power over these men. But I state my opinion just like anybody else,"

Kweli then clarified that while he respects both artists, he feels he has the right to express disapproval when he feels they have done something wrong. "All these artists that have lyrics that offend people, especially Rick Ross and Lil Wayne, I'm a fan of both of these men. I know both of these men. I'm friendly with both of these men," he said. "I have no issues with these people as artists. I think we should embrace our artists. But if people say something that I don't agree with, I have no problem saying that it's wrong. I do think that Ross was wrong on those lyrics. I do think that...I do think that [Ross] was dead wrong with that particular lyric."

The Prisoner Of Consciousness emcee then commented on the double standard in hip hop, indicating that fans are inclined to question artists they don't like, while overlooking problems with those that they do. He argued that Ross and Wayne have been targeted while artists like Eminem and Biggie often get a pass for similar lyrics. "I think when it comes to Rick Ross and Lil Wayne, a lot of so-called Hip Hop fans just don't like them in general. So they're looking for other reasons to not like them. Whereas they'll accept rape lyrics from a Biggie Smalls, or an Eminem or an Odd Future. They look at that and they'll condone that but they won't condone it from rappers whose music they don't like."

Listen to the full interview below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 0shytaZTr4

[Trimss]

Yes, MMLP was critically well received by homosexuals, feminists etc..

[HeySamantha]

does he know who Eminem is or.......?

[Blu]

Completely agreed.

[Cube23]

He's absolutely right and I'm guilty of it, too. I, for some reason, enjoy violent songs from guys like Eminem or Tyler, The Creator. But when I heard the Rick Ross lyrics, I was pretty turned off. And that's just me not being too much of a fan of Rick Ross. He isn't terrible. He has some solid beats. But I'm not a huge fan. But Relapse and Goblin are two guilty pleasure albums of mine. Just the hypocrisy of being a fan.

[12characters]

Wasn't Talib criticizing Ross earlier? Is he criticizing Big and Em now?

[Blu]

Yeah man, some people don't know how to draw he dividing line between music and reality.

But, what he said about people just looking for reasons to hate rappers like Rick Ross? I never even thought about that.

[ImANoob]

extremely good point. even though i honestly didnt give two shits about the lil wayne line, a lot of people did. then again em's lyrics were protested a lot back in 2000-2001

[King Lance]

he didn't say anything bad about Em and biggie

[12characters]

he didn't say anything bad about Em and biggie

But he called Ross misguided, right? Does he think Big and Em were misguided too?

[Trimss]

First of all, Eminem was questioned. If you don't know how much shit was thrown at him, you're probably not even a fan. Picket signs, GLAAD, feminists, all kind of people were protesting against his music. This little backlash that Ross got is nothing compared to it.

Now people don't care about what Eminem says because they know him, they know his attitude, his persona and his alter ego. They know he can say whatever the fuck he wants because tongue in cheek is his thing, and people finally started to accept it. That's why Eminem can pull it off.

Ross on the other hand, he's not separating himself from that gangster attitude he's claiming in his songs. That's why he lost credibility when 50 exposed him as a cop, and that's why people are offended with this line. They know he's not joking and he could very well have done what he said in UENO.

[Chet Starr]

First of all, Eminem was questioned. If you don't know how much shit was thrown at him, you're probably not even a fan. Picket signs, GLAAD, feminists, all kind of people were protesting against his music. This little backlash that Ross got is nothing compared to it.

Now people don't care about what Eminem says because they know him, they know his attitude, his persona and his alter ego. They know he can say whatever the fuck he wants because tongue in cheek is his thing, and people finally started to accept it. That's why Eminem can pull it off.

Ross on the other hand, he's not separating himself from that gangster attitude he's claiming in his songs. That's why he lost credibility when 50 exposed him as a cop, and that's why people are offended with this line. They know he's not joking and he could very well have done what he said in UENO.

It's very clear you have a bias against Ross. You just helping prove Talib's point.

Like calling Ross a cop, that right there proves your bias. Ross was never a cop, he was a correctional officer's. Which is just a prison guard, he wasn't on the streets with a badge. He was just a guard, he was never a cop.

& you just said that Ross may have raped people Come on man, you know nothing about the guy. I don't even know anything about the guy, but I'm not claiming he could he rapist.

Now it's fine if you hate him for being a correctional officer, but don't spread lies about him being a cop.

It's like how you defend Beiber, I think Ross just gets a bad reputation cause he is famous. It's just a "cool" thing to hate Ross if you are a hip hop head, and it's annoying

[Trimss]

It's very clear you have a bias against Ross. You just helping prove Talib's point.

Like calling Ross a cop, that right there proves your bias. Ross was never a cop, he was a correctional officer's. Which is just a prison guard, he wasn't on the streets with a badge. He was just a guard, he was never a cop.

& you just said that Ross may have raped people Come on man, you know nothing about the guy. I don't even know anything about the guy, but I'm not claiming he could he rapist.

Now it's fine if you hate him for being a correctional officer, but don't spread lies about him being a cop.

It's like how you defend Beiber, I think Ross just gets a bad reputation cause he is famous. It's just a "cool" thing to hate Ross if you are a hip hop head, and it's annoying

Nope, I have absolutely no bias against Rick Ross. I like some of his music (not recently, though) but I honestly didn't remember what job it was while I was writing that post. But yeah, correctional officer. That's still far from being a gangster, isn't it?

And no, I didn't say he may have raped people. I said the way he says it doesn't imply he's just joking, it seems like he's just saying it for the fuck of it. Like, he's telling us something he did and he's proud of it you know? It's like when Bizarre tries to be offensive because he can't do anything else lol. But Ross is the biggest rapper right now (lolol no pun intended) and that's why his lyrics are being scrutinized more than other rappers.

I just think it's not really that hard to understand why people would be offended. His music is on the radio all the time.

[Chet Starr]

& this wasn't really a joking type of song, so I understand why people get mad at this, and not Slim shady shit.

tbh it's all wrong, from any rapper saying this shit. But it's not going to go away anytime soon, so people needs to stop getting their panties in a twist.

Fuck, i can't even tell what side I'm on

[EminemBase]

Eminem isn't questioned in the same light because it's obvious to anyone who understands his music that he's indulging in character, everybody knows his alter-ego and his sense of macabre, there's many layers of provocation and tongue-in-cheek, he's an intelligent, provocative artist.

People know he doesn't really mean it, he was misunderstood and exploits that for art.

Where as Rick Ross is just a fat retard fraud who doesn't know what he wants to portray artistically so is just hopping on the terminology bandwagon and trying to sound a bit badass, when he just made himself sound like a genuine rapist. There's no layers, it just sounds creepy and real.