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" I sing in Arabic as a statement. It's art, and it's a challenge. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Challenge
Sing
Statement
Related Quotes:
" All of the Arabic women I grew up listening to or watching had a very strong character. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Character
Women
Up
" Women are a minority the same way gay people are. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Minority
People
Same
" My dad was a brilliant civil engineer. My parents later divorced, but we lived in Abu Dhabi, Greece, Kuwait. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Later
Parents
Brilliant
" 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. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Passionate
Change
Bold
" I have learned to create from a hybridized point of view. It's an asset - something rather liberating. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Point
View
Point Of View
" When I read the Koran or hear it read, the images and the poetry, the sound of the language is very inspiring. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Language
Poetry
Sound
" I studied psychology at university. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Studied
University
Psychology
" Without freedom and without humor, our cultures can't have a healthy evolution. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Humor
Freedom
Evolution
" The Arabic music I listen to is extremely edgy. Ironic, sarcastic, sensual, erotic. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Sarcastic
Music
Listen
" 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. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Started
How
Music
" You do not start by working on society; you start by yourself to be a freer person and a more independent person. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Yourself
Start
You
" When it comes to the lyrics, I write about my own perception of things and use characters for that. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Things
Own
Perception
" I don't relate to what is seen as 'Arab culture.' I relate to what I explore myself, what is around me. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Culture
Explore
Me
" 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. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Time
Bad
Life
" 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. "
Yasmine Hamdan
World
Music
Reality
" 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. "
Yasmine Hamdan
You
Yourself
True
" 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. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Professional
Artist
Environment
" I love Khaliji music; it's very inspiring. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Music
Very
Love
" When I go to Beirut, I don't drive. It's traumatizing to drive there. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Go
Drive
Beirut
" 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. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Always
Head
Crisis
" 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. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Blessed
Hope
Poetry
" I don't think there is only one Arab culture or a pure Arabness. We are very multiple, especially our generation, which is very multilayered. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Culture
Generation
Only
" I wanted to pursue my own thing - I had desires, ideas I wanted to accomplish, and I needed to be on my own for that. "
Yasmine Hamdan
My Own
Pursue
Own
" I set the bar very high. I'm very tough on myself. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Myself
Bar
Very
" I've always fought any form of censorship. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Fought
Form
Censorship
" I'm Muslim but not really. My family did not care. And I always managed to skip religion classes when I was living in the Gulf, even when they were obligatory. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Religion
Always
Care
" My family played a part in bringing communism to Lebanon. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Played
Family
Communism
" A lot of Arabic composers such as Mohammed Abdel Wahab mixed sounds and instruments from all over the world. It's important to be able to propose new ways and new sounds without being stigmatised, censored or put aside. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Over
New
Without
" 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. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Need
Learning
Interesting
" I was born in the middle of Lebanon's civil war. "
Yasmine Hamdan
Born
War
Middle