The people of Somalia just do not have a voice. They are to me the most forgotten people in the world.

It's not longer 'Look what I can do, I can do it better then you.' It's just I am.

The people of Somalia just do not have a voice. They are to me the most forgotten people in the world.

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

It is the very survival of the streets that makes children pick up guns in Somalia, not some older, wide-eyed rebel leader. My intimate experiences during these years are something which I have shared with people through my music but am very careful about how they are addressed.

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. I got to fully experience and appreciate both the tragedy of Somalia and the beauty of it.

I enjoy mediation. I think the artist's position is often to mend the things we feel are broken. Whether that's between two cultures or two thoughts. We're always trying to reach, trying to expand something.