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" 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. "

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" 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

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

" '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. "

Yasmine Hamdan

Women

Just

" 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. "

" I was born in the middle of Lebanon's civil war. "

" Faith is a very intimate process that involves being sincere and truthful to a spiritual presence. "

" My father is an engineer, and my mother raised the three children. "

" 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

" 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. "

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

" I love Khaliji music; it's very inspiring. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

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

Yasmine Hamdan

Character

Women

" Music liberated me. "

Yasmine Hamdan

Music

Liberated

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

" I'm inspired by many artists whose language I don't understand. "

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

" I have a sense of mission in a way. I've always worked on being free, as a woman and as an artist. "

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

" 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. "

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

" I don't believe that there is a separation between art and political consciousness. "

" It's normal; Arab women have always been very active at the forefront of culture - as film producers since the 1920s; as singers, dancers, choreographers, writers for much longer than that. "

" Because of the Lebanese civil war, I had a scattered childhood. I had to build my own connections to each country we moved to. "

" 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. "

" The Arabic world was very interesting in the 1920s to '60s: there was something booming culturally, and I found my culture very desirable when I listened to these songs. "

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

" 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. "