Well, not so much politics. A couple of my songs have a social commentary, like Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice). I really can't escape from politics because my father was a political prisoner in Cuba; he went to Vietnam. But I try to stay away from politics as much as possible.

Well, I'm proud of it. I was declard persona non grata not by the country but by a terrorist regime. But I know that Cubans love me and my music.

It taught me that I had a lot more discipline than I thought; a lot more patience. [I became] more expressive, not only personally with my family, but in my mu…

[Is '90 Millas' another crossover -- into World Music?] I can see that. The core is African rhythm -- half of the world's music comes from that. The difference…

You ask if I would have been different without 'Party guidance'? Yes, almost certainly. No doubt the line I was pursuing when I wrote the Fourth Symphony would…

We had a dim premonition that power-mad gangsters would one day use art itself as a way of deadening men's minds.

You know that it would be untrue You know that I would be a liar If I was to say to you Girl, we couldn't get much higher. Come on baby, light my fire - Come o…