Mustafa the Poet

Mustafa Ahmed (born 28 July 1996), known as Mustafa, formerly known as Mustafa the Poet, is a Sudanese-Canadian poet, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker from Toronto. He released his debut studio album, When Smoke Rises, in May 2021.

Early life
Mustafa Ahmed was born in Toronto, Ontario to Sudanese parents.

He grew up in Regent Park, one of Toronto's oldest housing projects. Gun violence and street gangs were part of his childhood. Mustafa attended Regent Park Duke of York Public School.

When he was in the seventh grade, Mustafa performed an original piece, "A Single Rose", at Nelson Mandela Park Public School. The piece attracted praise at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in 2009.

Mustafa first came to fame for his poetry. He was inspired to write by his older sister, who taught him the healing effects of poetry at a young age.

2014–2016: Poetry and Halal Gang
Mustafa has experimented with different forms of writing, testing the limits and temperaments of each world and its corresponding scenes.

Mustafa was first profiled in the Toronto Star at the age of 12, which highlighted his ability to describe and connect white and non-Black audiences to the gritty side of Toronto.

On October 4, 2014, Mustafa published "Rabba" with the Toronto-based artist collective Halal Gang. Members included Mustafa (aka Mustafa the Poet), Puffy L’z, Mo-G, Safe, and Smoke Dawg.

As member of Canadian hip hop collective Halal Gang, Mustafa starred in a number of music videos, including the single "Feel" by Safe released in October 2016.

In the same year, Mustafa was appointed to Justin Trudeau's Youth Advisory Council.

2017–2019: Remember Me, Toronto
Poetry and film

Mustafa performed at the Fast in the 6 festival at Nathan Phillips Square held on 1 June 2018.

In July 2018, he paid condolences to his deceased associate, Smoke Dawg, who had been gunned down on 30 June 2018, in front of a Toronto nightclub.

In March 2019, Italian fashion designer Pierpaolo Piccioli collaborated Mustafa and three other poets for Valentino's autumn/winter 2019 collection.

A line from his poem "From the Perspective of Black Love" was featured as part of the collection. He describes attending the show as an emotional experience, seeing women in creations made for their bodies. Vogue described the event as "poetry back in fashion". His collaborations would be worn by Emilia Clarke at a Game of Thrones premiere.

Still under the name of Mustafa the Poet, he produced and released Remember Me, Toronto, a short Canadian documentary film about the hip hop culture in Canada in 17 March 2019.

Created for the Canadian hip hop community, the documentary discusses the losing of people due to the increasing gun violence and homicide rates in Toronto over the past decade.

Mustafa said that he aimed to discuss the systemic structure working against the lower economies of Toronto and wanted to give these artists the opportunity to "rewrite their memories and the memories of those they lost." In the film, the artists reflect on the inter generational nature of trauma and gun violence.

Artists featured included Drake, Baka Not Nice, Gilla, Pilla B, TJin, Pressa, Loco City, Smiley, Top 5, Blockboi, Twitch, Jay Whiss, Puffy L'z, Rax, Booggz, Yung Lava, and archival footage from the murdered artist Smoke Dawg.

Music and songwriting

Mustafa has co-written several popular singles as a songwriter, often closely collaborating with Toronto producer Frank Dukes.

In 2016, Mustafa would begin working with Dukes and co-wrote the song "Attention" by The Weeknd on the latter's album Starboy. Mustafa would also provide some background vocals.

The following year, he co-wrote two tracks on Camila Cabello's debut album Camila, "All These Years" and the single "She Loves Control".

In 2019, Mustafa co-wrote the Jonas Brothers single "Sucker".

He went on to title all the songs in Frank Dukes Parkscapes sample pack released in June 2019, which would be used on Taylor Swift's album Lover. He dedicated part of the album's royalties to his alma mater, Regent Park School.

In 2020, he once again aided Frank Dukes in co-writing the Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber single "Monster".

His songwriting and musicianship would not go unnoticed. Mustafa was featured on the Now's list of Toronto musicians to watch for in 2017.

Mustafa was noted as one of the 10 Canadian songwriters who are penning the biggest hit songs right now by CBC Music in April 2019.

2020–present: When Smoke Rises
On 10 March 2020, Mustafa released his debut single "Stay Alive". The single was dedicated to those he's lost to gun violence and was known for capturing Regent's Park resiliency. The single was produced by Frank Dukes and James Blake. The single featured numerous cameos from Toronto rappers including Halal Gang members Puffy L'z and Mo-G as well as Lil Berete. It was known for including lyrics about resilience, community, and the bleak realities of living on the fringes pair perfectly. The single prompted Complex to list Mustafa on the list of Best New Artists of the March 2020.

Mustafa released his debut album When Smoke Rises on 28 May 2021. Described as "inner city folk music", the album was written and produced with Simon on the Moon and Frank Dukes, along with James Blake, Jaime xx, and Sampha, among others.

In 2021, numerous publications named Mustafa as an 'artist on the rise, including Complex, Pitchfork, i-D, and YouTube Music.

The album won the 2022 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year and was shortlisted for the 2021 Polaris Music Prize.

Mustafa was featured on Metro Boomin's 2022 album Heroes & Villains, on the track "Walk Em Down (Don't Kill Civilians)", alongside rapper 21 Savage.

In July of 2023, Mustafa lost his older brother Mohamed Ahmed as the victim of a daytime shooting.

On January 4, 2024, Mustafa organized a benefit concert at the New Jersey Newark Symphony Hall for food and medical supply distribution in Gaza and Sudan with a number of artists including musicians Clairo, Daniel Caesar, Stormzy, comedian Ramy Youssef, and poets Hala Alyan and Safia Elhillo.

The sold-out concert at the 3,500-person venue attracted more than 220,000 livestream views on Instagram. Concert proceeds went to the relief organization Human Concern International for Palestine.