A song of love and loss

SUDANESE-CANADIAN artist Mustafa Ahmed’s second album Dunya (Arabic for the ‘world in all its flaws’) drops tomorrow.

The songwriter revealed in an interview that the 12 track-album would discuss his time growing up in Regent Park, one of Toronto’s oldest housing projects, and the loss of the community he made.

In the song Gaza is Calling, Mustafa describes how he was separated from his Palestinian childhood friend owing to the Gaza conflict. Written in 2020, the song rings true even today as thousands of Palestinians have been killed and injured in Israel attacks since October 7 last year.

“The song is an exploration of a deep love that I had for someone who lived in the hood, he came from Gaza and had West Coast braids and a bottom row of grills,” the 28-year-old said in an interview.

“He found himself immersed in hood culture. I think there was something about the fastness and the pace of it that made him feel like he was back in Gaza.

“We sat among each other, became best friends, but his life in Gaza separated us. It got too hectic. It was not manageable. It was not sustainable,” he added.

The song’s music video features Palestinian model Bella Hadid alongside 15-year-old Palestinian rapper Abdul comforting each other.

It also showcases clips of Palestinian children and families resisting the violence through joy and embrace while surrounded by rubble and destruction.

Formerly known as ‘Mustafa the Poet’, the artist first shot to fame for his poetry. He began his music career co-writing songs for several well-known musicians including the Jonas Brothers, Majid Jordan and The Weeknd.

Mustafa’s debut album When Smoke Rises (2021) earned him the 2022 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year, making him the first black Muslim artist to receive the honour.