Youssou N'Dour

My music is like a spinning ball. It can turn in one direction, and then it comes back to origins.

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

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.

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!

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

I don't really see myself as an actor.

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

I love meeting interesting people and doing things with them.

I respect music, I do. I love it.

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

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