There are very few pop people I'm interested in working with.

I had a story-telling mother; she's written novels and short stories. So I feel like maybe I'm staying alive by telling tales.

I'm sure that a lot of my friends - even though they're curious about the music of nations that are not on their radar - still don't know what Kuwaiti music sounds like.

I feel like there is an emphasis against teaching geography in American schools. Americans don't say, "I'm going to Germany." They say, "I'm going to Europe."

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.

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 feel like I got my first real taste of Caribbean and Cuban culture while I was there. I have quite a sizeable Cuban vinyl collection from Miami thrift stores.