Mustafa the Poet

It was shortlisted for the 2025 Polaris Music Prize.

• Name — Mustafa • Birth Name — Mustafa Ahmed • Born — 28 July 1996 • Birthplace — Toronto, Ontario, Canada • Occupation — * Poet • singer • songwriter • filmmaker • Genre — * Folk • R&B • spoken word • Years Active — 2016–present • Label — * Regent Park Songs • Jagjaguwar • Current Member Of — Halal Gang

Mustafa Ahmed was born in Toronto, Ontario to Sudanese parents. He grew up in Regent Park, one of Toronto's oldest housing projects. Mustafa attended Regent Park Duke of York Public School. 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. When he was in the seventh grade, Mustafa performed an original piece, "A Single Rose", at Nelson Mandela Park Public School. It attracted praise at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in 2009.

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 4 October 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, he starred in a number of music videos, including the single "Feel" by Safe released in October 2016. In 2016, Mustafa was appointed to Justin Trudeau's Youth Advisory Council.

Poetry and film Mustafa performed at the Fast in the 6 festival at Nathan Phillips Square held on 1 June 2018. 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". He was featured on the Nows list of Toronto musicians to watch for in 2017. In 2019, he 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. That year, he was noted as "one of the 10 Canadian songwriters who are penning the biggest hit songs right now" by CBC Music. In 2020, he once again aided Frank Dukes in co-writing the Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber single "Monster".

On 10 March 2020, Mustafa released his debut single "Stay Alive". The single was dedicated to those he'd 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 EP When Smoke Rises on 28 May 2021. Described as "inner city folk music", the EP was written and produced with Simon on the Moon and Frank Dukes, along with James Blake, Jamie xx, and Sampha, among others. The EP 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 2023, Mustafa's older brother Mohamed Ahmed was killed in a shooting. On 4 January 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. On 2 September 2025, he joined Dua Lipa on stage at the Radical Optimism Tour at her Toronto concert to perform “Name of God”. On 3 September 2025, he appeared on the NPR Tiny Desk series. With the accompaniment of a Sudanese choir, they performed played "Name of God," "I'll Go Anywhere," and "What Happened, Mohamed?". On 16 September, he won the inaugural Polaris SOCAN Song Prize the 2025 Polaris Music Prize for his song "Gaza Is Calling".

• Title — Details • Dunya — * Released: 27 September 2024 * Label: Jagjaguwar * Formats: LP, CD, digital

• Title — Details • When Smoke Rises — * Released: 28 May 2021 * Label: Regent Park Songs * Formats: LP, CD, digital

• Title — Year — Album • "Stay Alive" — 2020 — When Smoke Rises • "Air Forces" • "Ali" — 2021 • "The Hearse" • "Name of God" — 2023 — Dunya • "Imaan" — 2024 • "Gaza is Calling" • "SNL"

List of other charted songs, with selected chart positions • Title — Year — Peak chart positions — Album • US — US R&B/HH — US Rap — CAN — WW • "Walk Em Down (Don't Kill Civilians)" (Metro Boomin and 21 Savage featuring Mustafa) — 2022 — 52 — 19 — 12 — 28 — 59 — Heroes & Villains

• Title — Year — Other artist(s) — Album • "Walk Em Down (Don't Kill Civilians)" — 2022 — Metro Boomin, 21 Savage — Heroes & Villains • "Toronto 2014" — 2023 — Daniel Caesar — Never Enough • "Plane Trees" — 2024 — Omar Apollo — God Said No • "Mind Loaded" — 2025 — Blood Orange, Caroline Polachek, Lorde — Essex Honey • "I Can Go" — Blood Orange, Mabe Fratti

• Year — Artist — Album — Song • 2016 — Brendan Canning — Home Wrecking Years (credited as vocalist) • The Weeknd — Starboy — "Attention" • 2017 — BRIDGE — Wreck — "Lord Knows" • 2018 — Camila Cabello — Camila — "All These Years" • |"She Loves Control" • Black Atlass — Pain & Pleasure — "Fantasy" • Hello Yello — Love Wins — "Feel That Again" • 2019 — Jonas Brothers — Happiness Begins — "Sucker" • SAFE — Stay — "No Rush" • "Red Light" • "Wasteland" • "Summer's End 2" • "Piano" • "Nobody Cares" • "R U Scared, Pt. 2" • Majid Jordan — Non-album single — "Caught Up" (featuring Khalid) • 2020 — Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber — Wonder — "Monster" • 2021 — Charlotte Day Wilson — Alpha — "Keep Moving" • Nemahsis — Non-album single — "What If I Took It Off For You?" • 2023 — Omar Apollo — Non-album single — "3 Boys" • 2025 — Daniel Caesar — Son of Spergy — "Have A Baby (With Me)" • "Root of All Evil" • "Who Knows" • "Touching God" (featuring Yebba and Blood Orange)

• Film and television • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2019 — Remember Me, Toronto — Producer and Director