ABOUt MUSTAFA

Twenty-four year old singer/songwriter Mustafa Ahmed grew up fighting. He would do so firstly as a child growing up in Toronto’s Regent Park community, matching up with other children his age at the behest of the older kids from around the way. Somehow, it did not harden him. He would continue fighting, though now against stereotypes, as an adolescent poet dispelling notions of who Black Muslims from Regent Park were with every stanza of his continuously celebrated poetry. He would attempt to fight again, this time on behalf of his immediate community, as a member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Youth Advisory Council, an effort that helped him realize his mission would be better served by amplifying the stories he’d collected over the years through song. And that is how we got Mustafa, child of Sudanese Muslim immigrants, one time Pan American Games Poet Laureate, cherished collaborator of acts like Majid Jordan, The Weeknd, and Khalid, and the artist whose debut project When Smoke Rises aims to exalt the Regent Park MC whose legacy Mustafa fights for now, Jahvante “Smoke Dawg” Smart. 

The project features production from heavy-hitters Frank Dukes and Jamie xx, along with multiple contributions from similarly forlorn geniuses Sampha and James Blake. In them, Mustafa has found both established creators and kindred spirits, the kind of people who can’t help but feel the young singer’s vision. Also present on When Smoke Rises also are the voices of longtime friends and Regent Park natives Rax, Puffy L’z, cityboymoe, and both the dearly departed Ali and Smoke Dawg. They are the ones, of course, without whom When Smoke Rises would not exist. More importantly though, they are at least some of the people it is for. “My entire plight, since I was young, has been in and around protecting and preserving the stories of my community,” Mustafa says. “It's the reason that I began writing poetry. I’m like how am I going to preserve the stories that are not currently being told with any authenticity?” When Smoke Rises is our answer.

ABOUT WILLIE DUNN

William "Willie" Dunn was a Montreal-born singer-songwriter, film director and politician, who drew on his Mi’kmaq/Scottish heritage to craft protest songs about the Indigenous experience. Dunn’s 10-minute film for The Ballad of Crowfoot is often cited as “the first Canadian music video.”

ABOUt THE WILLIE DUNN AWARD

SUPPORTED BY TELEFILM CANADA

The Willie Dunn Award is presented to a Canadian trailblazer who has demonstrated excellence within the music, music video and/or film production communities. The recipient is asked to select an emerging Canadian creative who's work will be spotlighted during the Prism Prize presentation. Both recipient and the selected creator will receive cash honourariums of $2500.00.

2022 RECIPIENT - Mustafa
2021 RECIPIENTS - Leanne Betasamosake Simpson / Beatrice Deer
2020 RECIPIENTS - LaurieAnn Gibson / Noor Khan