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

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" Collaborating with other artists is an emotional thing. Obviously, you don't do it unless this person inspires you. "

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" I've always had a sense that I am doing something very important, something vital. "

" My dad was a brilliant civil engineer. My parents later divorced, but we lived in Abu Dhabi, Greece, Kuwait. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Maybe I was blessed that my main drive was purely selfish. I needed to make something, make my life better, wider, have poetry in my life, have something that gives me hope on an everyday basis. That was my main drive all along, really. "

" 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. "

" I set the bar very high. I'm very tough on myself. "

" 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. "

" When I started, I didn't know how to sing in Arabic - it's a very complex and sophisticated music full of codes and modes and quarter-tones. "

" There should be no borders, race, colours, or ethnical considerations when it comes to music and creativity. "

" When I started doing music, it was out of despair and boredom. I got passionate about it, and I felt that it allowed me to become somebody: an artist who explores her different identities. "

" I've always fought any form of censorship. "

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

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

" I have learned to create from a hybridized point of view. It's an asset - something rather liberating. "

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

" I sing in Arabic as a statement. It's art, and it's a challenge. "

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" My family played a part in bringing communism to Lebanon. "