Don’t hold on to the old when you're being led somewhere new. Come out of your comfort zone.
My music doesn't exist in a vacuum; there's a script and there's an actor and it's about to come together.
I still think you people need to be curious [in order to absorb the culture]. You need to search Uzbekistani pop music.
There's a big difference between the Arabic and Western scales. One uses quarter tone system and one doesn't. So in order for me to compose real Arabic scale melodies, I would need an Arabic keyboard, and I don't have one. So I had to compose Arabesque melodies.
If you've ever seen album covers for Arab female pop stars, it looks like the designer was paid five dollars to make them, and the extreme femaleness is astounding.
I've been exploring gender performativity in the Gulf since I was a teenager. I'm not a gender anthropologist, but I feel like there's an extreme binary between femininity and masculinity in the Gulf. From a young age, I knew I didn't want to be part of it. Gender is a huge gray area, and the problem with defined roles is that they cover up undefined ones.
I'm fascinated by evil queens. They're very alluring and repellent at the same time, and I'm into that dichotomy.
From caring comes courage.
Those who voluntarily put power into the hands of a tyrant. . . must not wonder if it be at last turned against themselves.
The wine-cup is the little silver well, Where truth, if truth there be, doth dwell.
What I've taken from my spiritual study is the wisdom of living a balanced life. My spiritual path has also helped me to be more emotionally centered, to be more understanding of those that disagree with me, and to learn how to let go of some of my power issues so that I can be more effective and bring a sense of humility to my work - while still having the self-confidence to be effective.