“Independent music made with care” is how Arts & Crafts describes the philosophy that has guided the label for more than two decades. From Broken Social Scene and Feist to the next generation of artists on its roster today, that has meant putting artists and their work at the centre.
Mustafa is exactly the kind of artist that philosophy is designed to support. His talent as a songwriter and storyteller is matched by a strong sense of what he wants his work to be and how he wants to bring it into the world. As his Canadian label, Arts & Crafts brings its experience and resources to supporting that work at home.
Long before Mustafa became known for his music, he was a poet writing about the world around him. Growing up in Regent Park, he documented the people and experiences of his community before eventually bringing that same perspective to songwriting.
His 2021 project When Smoke Rises introduced Mustafa’s folk-rooted sound through songs about grief, friendship and the loss that had touched his community. The project earned him the 2022 JUNO Award for Alternative Album of the Year, bringing a sound and perspective not often heard in folk music to a wider audience.
Dunya builds on that foundation, shifting from the grief at the centre of When Smoke Rises toward the life continuing around Mustafa. Across the album, he wrestles with faith, love, identity and belonging, as well as his complicated relationship with Toronto, bringing together the personal and political. That same level of intention extends beyond the music, shaping the collaborators, visuals and experiences surrounding the album.
For Arts & Crafts Head of A&R Michael Powell, that conviction is central to what makes Mustafa such a compelling artist. “He is this artist with an absolute singular vision and understanding of who he wants to be and what type of music he wants to make.”
Working with an artist as self-directed as Mustafa meant Arts & Crafts could focus on where its expertise could add to what was already taking shape around Dunya. Alongside Mustafa’s international label and management teams, Arts & Crafts brought its local relationships, infrastructure and market knowledge to the larger campaign.
That meant supporting not only the album’s release, but the wider world Mustafa was building around it. His Kitaba Listening series brought album listenings and conversations around Dunya to five cities. In Toronto, Mustafa was joined by Daniel Caesar, giving audiences another way to engage with the record and the thinking behind it.
“A little bit of it is sitting back and just supporting exactly what he wants to do, and doing the best we can with getting what he has made out there.”
Arts & Crafts also focused on building momentum for Dunya with Canadian streaming platforms. “Something that is really important with a Canadian artist is getting the Canadian DSP teams super excited and on board with the project, so that they’re then championing it around the world to all their other teams,” Powell says.
For Powell, working with an artist with such a clear sense of direction made the partnership particularly rewarding. “I think working with an artist with that kind of vision and clarity is so refreshing,” he says. “Sometimes we’re trying to guide and really help an artist out, but in some ways, [Mustafa was] guiding and helping us out.”
That relationship looks different with every artist on Arts & Crafts’ roster. Some projects require more development and direction; others arrive with their own roadmap. The label’s job is to recognize the difference and put its resources where they can have the greatest impact.
FACTOR funding gives Arts & Crafts more room to do exactly that. By helping offset marketing and other project costs, that support makes it easier for the label to invest in music it believes in without requiring every decision to be justified by its immediate commercial return.
“It does really allow us to maintain this philosophy of independent music made with care and trying to work on things that aren’t only commercially driven.”
Without Factor, I think some of our values would have to shift,” he adds. “So it’s this kind of safety net and support that allows us to really be the company we want to be and support artists in the way that we want to.”
For a label built around independent music made with care, that flexibility matters. It means being able to meet an artist where they are, whether that means helping them find their direction or, in Mustafa’s case, recognizing when they’ve already found it.
