"Nina Simone is special to me because of her voice, the fact that she sings very low. When I listened to her voice for the first time, I asked my husband, 'who is this man?' and he said 'no, it's a woman!'. I told him: 'no, it's impossible, she's got a voice like a man!'. That was my first impression of her voice and of her music. I like to sing very low when I'm in the studio so I felt very comfortable listening to Nina Simone, because this is the way that I wanted to write my music and sing. Also, the fact that she wrote a lot of protest songs. 'Feeling Good'- you can interpret it as you want. When I listened to this song for the first time, it was my introduction to Western music. I was in Paris, and listening to this song was like freedom to me. Freedom, because when I left my family [in Mali], I ran away."

"My fourth favorite movie — I think every top five list has to have an Audrey Hepburn movie in it. Probably the greatest face of the 20th century, if not Sophia Loren and perhaps Monroe. Maybe Ingrid Bergman. But certainly she changed everything for the waif look, and the modern woman, and the non-buxom bosomy girl; and also always played smart. But this movie — I know I sound like a chorus boy here but, Funny Face is just… the choreography, the split-screen work, Kay Thompson, my God. Just try to stare at Audrey Hepburn dancing in her wedding attire and stepping onto a raft into an idyllic French stream with swans floating around. And perfect choreography and synchronization with the camera. And the swooping crane shots and the music. It’s just a wonderful, wonderful film. And smart and funny — and beatniks in Paris, and fashion, and color, and, yeah, I just really love the film. Ahead of it’s time."