Quotes from Emmanuel Jal

The wealthiest Sudanese don't know what war is. Their children are safe in school.

When you see a Sudanese walking on the street, there is a story.

The only foreign policy advice I heard from China was when they said to Sudan, 'Don't go back to war.' That's all they said. They didn't push anything else.

War destroys people's souls. Most people focus on physical injuries, but the invisible injuries can take a lifetime to heal and affects the lives of generations to come.

When I was in south Sudan, people used to rap in my village. But the rapping was more in the mother tongue, Nuer.

Music is powerful. It is the only thing that can speak into your mind, your heart and your soul without your permission.

Music is actually where I see heaven.

I'm still a soldier, fighting with my pen and paper for peace till the day I cease.

Peace may be negotiated by politicians, but it is something written in hearts and minds not on pieces of paper

Education is the only solution for peace.

Knife crime and gun crime is poverty-driven, and poverty leads to insecurity.

I grew up in poverty. For 25 years I was fed on aid.

Violence in Darfur is cataclysmic.

The first time I experienced war, I thought the world was ending.

I'm kind of weird - I don't get excited. Sometimes I fake that I'm excited just to make people happy.

I am proof that one person can rise above any challenge, and if I can, then so will others if they are given the chance.

A cold heart is my protection mechanism. I don't really feel anything for anyone.

For many Sudanese, it's for strength they choose to be Christian rather than Muslim. My mum was a Muslim but she became a Christian later.

Music - it's the only thing that can enter your system, your mind, your heart, without your permission.

When people know you've been a soldier, they judge you: you are a thief, a lost boy.

I'm rapping in English but in an African way. I'm not trying to sound like an American.

When you don't educate the people, you're crippling them. You are, you're not giving them ways to survive.

If I sleep for more than half an hour, I get horrible dreams in which I'm firing a gun and helicopters are coming down.

Any child soldier has to go through a lot of love, care and understanding to become normal.