When the slaves left Africa, they left us this music. They left us blues.

In Africa, there is much confusion.... Before, there was no radio, or other forms of communication.... Now, in Africa ... the government talks, people talk, the police talk, the people don't know anymore. They aren't free.

I have studied at the school of the world.

Senegal needs to free itself, to rediscover its democracy.

Western record companies haven't always dealt with African musicians in the best way. Giving them a lot of money and telling them they're going to be bigger than Phil Collins is the wrong way to do it!

I want to use my music to deliver a political message and sometimes to denounce, but I don't want to be a politician.

Politics is politics; art is art. If you play a political role, you have to stop being an artist.