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.

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

The Arab world is mediatised in a way that gives too much space to these people - puritans, extremists, whatever you want to call them. There are a lot more people like me in the Middle East than you might think.

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

The Arabic music I listen to is extremely edgy. Ironic, sarcastic, sensual, erotic.

I've always had a sense that I am doing something very important, something vital.

When the public doesn't understand me, it's a battle. So when I choose words, I choose them for their musicality, rhythm, and sense, and I choose the right dialect to express that.

For me, a taxi is like a public space because so many people get in that space.

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, no classical instruments. Maybe with the Internet opening things up, things will change.

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