Talib Kweli Bill Maher
Fresh off the release of his surprise (and completely free) LP Fuck The Money, Talib Kweli stopped by Real Time with Bill Maher to discuss his currently place in the music industry, social activism and even a bit of presidential politics. Kweli was asked about his take on the recent interruption of a Bernie Sanders press conference by Black Lives Matter activists in Seattle--and handled the issue with cool collected wisdom.
"Me personally, I'm friends with some of the people who started Black Lives Matter. My sensibilities, when I first saw what happened to Bernie in Seattle, I was like 'Well, that's not right,' but I was corrected," Kweli asserted. "The job of activism is not to be liked or not to be polite; black women vote more than anybody in this country, and you have young black women who started Black Lives Matter, and they are forcing this discussion."
Maher pressed Kweli, pointing out Sanders' policies and asking "Is he the first guy we should be attacking?" The MC replied "He might be the easiest because he's someone that's dealing with the people more directly than a Jeb Bush or Hilary Clinton," but stressed that the job of activism is not to be like or keep polite.
"Bernie Sanders is somebody who, just because someone has a record of civil rights doesn't mean they are automatically entitled to the black vote," he said.
Turning to music, Maher asked Kweli about his new record and the decision to release it completely for free. The rapper stressed that "People don't buy music, they'd rather stream and pay money to streaming companies" Kweli said. "It's convenient. As horrible as it is, it's my responsibility to do something about it, it's not on the consumer to do something about the new business model… I don't think it's fair, but that's how it is." Watch the video clip below and pick yourself up a copy of Fuck the Money if you haven't already done so.
