YouTube Music Taps Mustafa For 'Artist On The Rise' Honors

Mustafa

YOUTUBE MUSIC tapped up-and-coming singer/songwriter MUSTAFA as its latest ARTIST ON THE RISE, making him one of the first additions to the platform's emerging artist program in 2021. After gaining notoriety as a spoken word poet and writer, MUSTAFA has built a loyal streaming following for his music on YOUTUBE, garnering over 1.5 million views on his OFFICIAL ARTIST CHANNEL over the past year thanks to debut singles like “Stay Alive, ” and his latest FRANK DUKES- and JAMIE XX-co-produced track, “Air Forces.”

To give fans an inside look at what inspires his music, YOUTUBE also sat down with MUSTAFA for a Q&A about his sources of inspiration and more. You can read the full Q&A here.

Also known as MUSTAFA THE POET, the CANADIAN -born performer entered the spoken word poetry scene at the age of 12, where he built a reputation for raw and powerful writing about poverty, race and his SUDANESE heritage. After DRAKE shared one of his poems on INSTAGRAM, MUSTAFA found himself in the spotlight. with guest spots on CBC, press features in PITCHFORK, COMPLEX and ROLLING STONE. He has songwriting credits on songs by CAMILO CABELLO, SHAWN MENDES and THE WEEKND. 

A member of the TORONTO-based collective HALI GANG (MO-G, SAFE, PUFFY LIZ and SMOKE DAWG), MUSTAFA debuted his first single, "Stay Alive" in early 2020, with producer credits from FRANK DUKES and JAMES BLAKE. Since then, he’s also collaborated with BLAKE on a studio session performance of “Come Back.” His highly-anticipated debut album, "When Smoke Rises," will be released this year.

MUSTAFA earned a GRAMMY as a songwriter on THE WEEKND's "Starboy," names Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 60th GRAMMY AWARDS in 2018, and was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album for his songwriting work on CAMILA CABELLO's "CAMILA," the following year..

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