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Mustafa's debut album is a tribute to the Toronto community he grew up in

XPN | By John Myers,
Raina Douris
Published November 15, 2021 at 12:54 PM EST
Mustafa
Frank Dukes
/
Courtesy of the artist
Mustafa

The Toronto-raised singer-songwriter Mustafa's parents emigrated to his hometown from Sudan, eventually settling into a housing project within the city's Regent Park neighborhood — growing up there, Mustafa witnessed gun violence that, in some cases, took the lives of his good friends.

Now 25 years old, Mustafa is a nationally recognized poet in Canada, a member of the hip-hop collective Halal Gang and a co-writer of songs for artists like the Jonas Brothers and The Weeknd. His debut full-length album, When Smoke Rises, folds together the sum of his expertise and experiences into a tribute to the community he came from. In this session, we'll enjoy a conversation with Mustafa along with live performances of songs from the new record, starting with "Stay Alive."

Copyright 2021 XPN
Arts
John Myers
Since 2017, John Myers has been the producer of NPR's World Cafe, which is produced by WXPN at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Previously he spent about eight years working on the other side of Philly at WHYY as a producer on the staff of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. John was also a member of the team of public radio veterans recruited to develop original programming for Audible and has worked extensively as a freelance producer. His portfolio includes work for the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, The Association for Public Art and the radio documentary, Going Black: The Legacy of Philly Soul Radio. He's taught radio production to preschoolers and college students and, in the late 90's, spent a couple of years traveling around the country as a roadie for the rock band Huffamoose.
See stories by John Myers
Raina Douris
Raina Douris is the host of World Cafe.
See stories by Raina Douris