Mustafa – “Imaan”

Mustafa – “Imaan”

A few years ago, the Toronto musician Mustafa released his debut album When Smoke Rises and landed on our list of the Best New Bands Of 2021. Back in October, he returned with the single “Name Of God,” and today he’s back with another single, “Imaan,” which arrives alongside the news that he’s signed to Jagjaguwar for an album that’s due out later this year.

“‘Imaan’ is a love song between two people in search of God and purpose. It’s about longing for all that we don’t have evidence of,” Mustafa shared in a statement. “Two Muslims journeying through their love of borderless Western ideology and how it contradicts with the modesty & devotion in which they were raised.” He continued:

‘Imaan’ sonically represents this tussle too – the Sudanese strings and Egyptian oud woven into the bed American folk chords and drums. This tapestry, this collision is the song, is the romance, is the person Mustafa is. How it’s never enough, or too much. The song sits in the grey that people of faith are afraid to live in, but identify with. It’s about the way faith swings beneath Mustafa and Imaan like a rope. How cultural tension and bias and racism can inform and dismember romance.

Watch a video for the track below.

“Imaan” is out now via Jagjaguwar.

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