Yasmine Hamdan

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Women are a minority the same way gay people are.”

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

“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.”

“We all have femininity in us.”

“When I go to Beirut, I don't drive. It's traumatizing to drive there.”

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

“'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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

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

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

“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.”