The Messed Up Thing About Art

"When I'm critical of the art form, I do it within the art form. I make the songs that can be the examples for how we can do it. I try not to be too critical of artists expressing themselves, but I try to express myself to show the balance, so there's a different way you can do it...It's not the artist's job to be politically correct or morally upstanding, it's the artist's job to be honest with how they express they self. At some times, an artist being less moral makes them a better artist and that's the messed up thing about art, that sometimes you can have real jerks create great art and you just gotta deal with it."

~ Rapper Talib Kweli speaking with Kurt Andersen on Studio 360 (9.5.08 originally recorded 8.17.07)