The poetry I grew up on is really an intense form of poetry; it's so pure and powerful.

It's not really that I'm interested in filmmaking. I'm interested in the instrument of it, you know.

Somalis really are very musically sophisticated, and they're about their own thing.

I am one of those people that's never been really cynical about life, you know.

I have moments of darkness, of anger, and moments of rage. They do creep up at the most inopportune times. Not to recognize that in my music would give people a sense of sainthood that I don't necessarily have or even want to have.

The only way I see the world now is through coming out of and growing up and living in Somalia. In the time of war, everyone was basically trying to live and manage the best they could. But you also had another period which was not a hard time at all - it was just a beautiful time. I lived in both eras.