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. — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
Without freedom and without humor, our cultures can't have a healthy evolution. — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
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… — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
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,… — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
Every time I go to Beirut, I see people and the quality of life going slowly from bad to worse, and from worse to… — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
Because of the Lebanese civil war, I had a scattered childhood. I had to build my own connections to each country we moved to. — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
'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… — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
With Soapkills, we were lucky. We started at a time of transition where things were not ready, nothing was available. — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
Back in Kuwait, I had started listening to a lot of English language music: western music, I would say - Kate Bush and Radiohead… — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
The Arabic music I listen to is extremely edgy. Ironic, sarcastic, sensual, erotic. — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
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,… — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
There is something spiritual about art that connects us with ourselves and with others; it's really about coming together and creating bridges. — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
I always had this crisis: where do I come from? I was never an insider, never an outsider; I was always in the middle.… — Yasmine Hamdan Copy Share Image
