Youssou N'Dour quotes

Youssou N'Dour is a renowned Senegalese musician, singer, and composer celebrated for his powerful voice and innovative fusion of traditional and contemporary styles. His music blends mbalax rhythms with international pop, earning him global recognition and influence. He has also played an important role as a cultural ambassador and activist for Africa. Here are 30 of his quotes:

Islam is a peaceful religion. (Youssou N'Dour)
I love meeting interesting people and doing things with them. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
Travel teaches as much as books. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
World music is about taking things from different places and bringing them together - which is great. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
Islam has been badly used by a certain ideology. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
I grew up with reggae music. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
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. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
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. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
Africa is the future. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
I want to use my music to deliver a political message and sometimes to denounce, but I don't want to be a politician. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
In politics, sometimes you have to lie, or you make a promise that you cannot keep. (Youssou N'Dour)
I'm a modern Muslim. I pray, and if I have a question, I ask someone who is more educated in the religion than me. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
Senegal needs a renaissance. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
I don't really see myself as an actor. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
When the slaves left Africa, they left us this music. They left us blues. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
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. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
My music is like a spinning ball. It can turn in one direction, and then it comes back to origins. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
The question of modernization is central to disturbances in the Middle East and in Africa. Everyone is after modernization, no matter where they come from. But you have to be careful about it, and more importantly, you have to have sense about it. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
I have studied at the school of the world. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
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. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
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. (Youssou N'Dour)
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! View quote
Youssou N'Dour
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. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
I have to protect my family and have a life with them that is completely private. View quote
Youssou N'Dour
I can assure you that I have never used my media companies for propaganda, and I will never do so. View quote
Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour

Youssou N'Dour - Image
Photo: Kotoviski photograph by Henryk Kotowski, GFDL
Occupation: Senegalese Musician
Born: October 1, 1959
Quotes count: 30