Mustafa

Mustafa first appeared on record as Mustafa the Poet, yet he also functions as a singer-songwriter, documentarian, and member of the hip-hop collective Halal Gang. After establishing commercial footing through co-writing credits on the Weeknd’s “Attention” in 2016 and the Jonas Brothers’ chart-topping “Sucker” in 2019, he began issuing introspective solo work under the Regent Park Songs imprint, drawn from his Toronto neighborhood. His debut full-length, the Juno Award-winning When Smoke Rises, arrived in 2021. Further joint efforts included a guest turn on Metro Boomin and 21 Savage’s “Walk Em Down (Don’t Kill Civilians).” Late in 2023 he surfaced with the solo track “Name of God,” signaling the approach of his follow-up album, Dunya, issued the following September.

Raised in Toronto as Mustafa Ahmed, he first drew notice in his teens for poetry that addressed social concerns. At eighteen, during 2014, he made his initial recorded appearance as Mustafa the Poet on Lorraine Segato’s “Rize Time.” Soon after, a poem of his circulated more widely once Drake posted it on social media. In 2016 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed him to the Prime Minister’s Youth Council; around the same time he contributed to “Feel” alongside Halal Gang associate SAFE and secured his earliest prominent songwriting placement on the Weeknd’s “Attention,” featured on the number-one album Starboy. He kept writing verse and joining other artists until the killing of friend and Halal Gang colleague Smoke Dawg prompted him to direct the short documentary Remember Me, Toronto, which examined gun violence and its underlying factors and included footage of Drake among its participants.

His connection to Frank Dukes, formed while working with the Weeknd, continued into subsequent projects. He supplied two songs to Camila Cabello’s chart-topping album Camila and, in 2019, achieved a number-one single in both Canada and the United States via the Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker.” The next year he released his earliest solo singles, the reflective acoustic pieces “Stay Alive” and “Air Forces,” which enlisted Frank Dukes, James Blake, and Jamie xx. Both tracks formed the core of his debut album, When Smoke Rises, released in 2021. The record earned strong critical regard, especially within Canada, where it was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize and received a Juno for Alternative Album of the Year. Another hit followed in 2022 through his featured appearance on Metro Boomin and 21 Savage’s “Walk Em Down (Don’t Kill Civilians).” In 2023 he joined Daniel Caesar on “Toronto 2014” and co-wrote Omar Apollo’s “3 Boys.” October brought his own understated acoustic single “Name of God,” after which “Imaan” and the pointed “Gaza Is Calling” appeared in 2024, preceding the September release of his second album, Dunya.