You're listening to Song Exploder,
where musicians take apart their songs and piece by piece tell the story of how they were made.
I'm Rishikesh Hirway.
Mustafa is a singer, songwriter, and poet from Toronto.
He gained national recognition in Canada for his poetry.
In 2016, he served on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Youth Advisory Council.
As a songwriter, he contributed to the Grammy Award-winning album Starboy by The Weeknd,
and he's written songs for Usher, Camila Cabello, and others.
In May 2021, he released his own debut album called When Smoke Rises,
inspired by his experiences losing friends to inner-city violence.
His album's been critically acclaimed, and it was shortlisted for the Polaris Prize.
I spoke to Mustafa about his song Air Forces.
It's a track he made with his longtime collaborator,
Grammy-winning producer Frank Dukes, plus Swedish artist Simon on the Moon and Jamie Aksaks.
Here's Mustafa on Song Exploder.
My name is Mustafa Ahmed.
I was raised in Regent Park.
It's the first and largest housing project in Canada.
It's right at the center of downtown Toronto,
a short walk away from the busiest intersection in Canada.