Youssou N'Dour Quotes

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

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

Senegal needs to free itself, to rediscover its democracy.

Islam is a peaceful religion.

I really want to bring the message of love that is Islam to people; bring something new to that familiar face.

I look at my people, and I look at those who control them - the political elite. And the sad thing is that the elites are just not interested in the welfare of the people.

I think people should know more of Africa in terms of its joie de vivre, its feeling for life. In spite of the images that one knows about Africa - the economic poverty, the corruption - there's a joy to living and a happiness in community, living together, in community life, which may be missing here in America.

World music is about taking things from different places and bringing them together - which is great.

I grew up with reggae music.

I don't really see myself as an actor.

In the West, you have always associated the Islamic faith 100 percent with Arab culture. This in itself is a fundamentalist attitude and it is mistaken.

In politics, sometimes you have to lie, or you make a promise that you cannot keep.

I have to protect my family and have a life with them that is completely private.

Africa is the future.

I don't want to see that two-tier Senegal, that two-tier Africa, when you have those at the top and those at the bottom, people who are hungry, people who do not have enough to eat.

I think that Sufism fits all over the world. The concept is not anything that fits standard Western ideas - it's always related to culture, to music, to religion. It is a dominant religion in Senegal.

When I'm in Senegal, I can't just sit in isolation making music. People need my help. And the Senegalese people helped create my music. It comes from the country itself.

My father used to tell me about how musicians don't have respect from people and he was afraid about my future.

Malaria kills and its main victims are children and women. We can stop this scourge so people can live with dignity and go to work and school.

I can assure you that I have never used my media companies for propaganda, and I will never do so.

I respect music, I do. I love it.

If you come from Africa with your economic poverty and your cultural riches, and you meet someone like Peter Gabriel or a person from a big record company, and they tell you that what you are doing is marvelous, that makes you feel powerful.

Music in Africa often contains messages. Music in Senegal, and Africa, is never music for music's sake or solely for entertainment. It's always a vehicle for social connections, discussions and ideas.