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" I follow my desires, and I'm prepared to take the consequences. "

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" When I read the Koran or hear it read, the images and the poetry, the sound of the language is very inspiring. "

" I had an Arabic background. but I lived a very scattered childhood. I didn't belong to any one culture, which meant I didn't have musical geographies in my head. "

" I'm bored, normally, when I travel. "

" It's interesting to be at once an insider and outsider. It's a way of learning how to find your way freely without the need of conforming or belonging. "

" 'Al Jamilat' is not just feminist. It's an album with songs that feature women: women who are in love, rebellious women, political activists, women who are more submissive, women who are in charge. "

" Back in Kuwait, I had started listening to a lot of English language music: western music, I would say - Kate Bush and Radiohead - and I loved Chet Baker, Etna James, a lot of singers and a lot of bands. "

" The Arab world is mediatised in a way that gives too much space to these people - puritans, extremists, whatever you want to call them. There are a lot more people like me in the Middle East than you might think. "

" I sing 'Beirut' for what the city is for me, but I am also singing as an exile. "

" When I imagine feminine characters in my songs, they're often bold, strong, passionate, militant, witty, sensual, dangerous. I see those characters as skillful witnesses, figures of change and awakening. "

" If you have a drummer who alternates between fast and slow drumming, it can negatively affect the music. "

" All of the Arabic women I grew up listening to or watching had a very strong character. "

" There is something spiritual about art that connects us with ourselves and with others; it's really about coming together and creating bridges. "

" Imagine a singer with the virtuosity of Joan Sutherland or Ella Fitzgerald, the public persona of Eleanor Roosevelt, and the audience of Elvis, and you have Umm Kulthum. "

" I am interested in exploring encounters where worlds meet and not where they separate. "

" I had the urge to face my own limitation, and I needed to be bigger. I needed to be more professional and be in a more competitive environment because I wanted to grow as an artist. That's why I went to Europe. "

" It's complicated for my music to be accepted, even in Lebanon and the Arabic world - I sing in Arabic, but there's no lute, no classical instruments. Maybe with the Internet opening things up, things will change. "

" There are many positive values that come with a Muslim upbringing. But when religion becomes about rules and hierarchies, when it starts to feel like a prison, I'm not interested. "

" World music can be sometimes like the lumber room in which all the non-English singers are dumped. When you are singing in Arabic, no matter what your style of music or artistic proposition is, you are faced with some of that reality. "

" Change means resistance, and resistance means transformation and igniting energies. "

" Every time I go to Beirut, I see people and the quality of life going slowly from bad to worse, and from worse to even worse. "

" I was raised by strong women, and the role models I had in music and cinema were strong, too - liberated and provocative. "

" Singing is a very sensual activity! You engage in it with all your senses and your heart. "

" I don't relate to what is seen as 'Arab culture.' I relate to what I explore myself, what is around me. "

" As an artist, you need to be true to yourself and free and not put yourself in a box that contradicts with what you feel is needed for a song. "

" When the public doesn't understand me, it's a battle. So when I choose words, I choose them for their musicality, rhythm, and sense, and I choose the right dialect to express that. "

" You do not start by working on society; you start by yourself to be a freer person and a more independent person. "

" I always had this crisis: where do I come from? I was never an insider, never an outsider; I was always in the middle. But it means I never have borders in my head. "

" Without freedom and without humor, our cultures can't have a healthy evolution. "

" I went from the most underground band in the world to signing with Madonna's producer and a record label that is extremely mainstream - it was interesting. "

" With Soapkills, we were lucky. We started at a time of transition where things were not ready, nothing was available. "