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We need self-confidence in our ability to build Africa. I trust in Mali and I trust in music.

I was doing quite well in Malaysia... Everyone was so excited about my music, and they started accepting me as an artist.

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.

While not a musician, my father was a music agent for years before becoming pop culture icon Famous Amos.

Going back and forth between Western Arabic and African countries clearly created the various musical backgrounds I could have and obviously influenced my professional attitude, my way of approaching both music composition and singing, particularly phrasing.

I felt I had an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of great soul musicians of the past, who made a lot of social and political commentary through their music.

As a composer, I'm basically trying to represent myself through my music in an honest way.

I found it liberating of necessity to devise my own style and my own tactics and to look for a voice on the instrument because there weren't really any that impacted strongly on me.

That's what I care about is the people I work with and representing them and helping to make their music apparent for the rest of the world.

It never really worked out for me in my own country. They said, 'You're not famous enough for the lead roles, and you're too present for the supporting roles - you'd overpower the lead.'