When Smoke Rises (Vinyl)
Today, Muslim poet and songwriter Mustafa details his debut project When Smoke Rises, via his own Regent Park Songs.
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.
