Dunya, the title of Mustafas masterfully crafted and breathtakingly tender full-length debut, roughly translates from Arabic to the world in all its flaws.

Its a lofty subject for a young songwriter, but as with every theme at the heart of the Sudanese-Canadian artists workfrom religious devotion to childhood trauma, gang violence to romantic intimacyhe approaches it through a personal lens. Blending genres and moods, weaving novelistic details into instantly memorable folk songs, he has crafted a record that feels like a series of personal breakthroughs, arriving one after the other.

The first thing that strikes you about Mustafas music has always been his writing: a simple, piercing tone that can make any story feel as raw and earnest as the words to a love song. With a hushed delivery that can silence his surroundings, Mustafa evolved swiftly from a chil