Mustafa released his debut album, When Smokes Rises, in May 2021. There was much anticipation around the release, and we saw the opportunity to shine a global spotlight on the project by doing additional marketing in select international territories, with a strong focus on the United States. The United States is an important market for the project. We saw substantial growth in this market around the release of the record, along with striking press looks such as a Pitchfork Rising, a feature in The New York Times by the infamous Jon Caramanica, KEXP (at Home)performance and a late-night TV debut on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He also had strong visibility in important cities from digital service providers, such as being named a Youtube Artist on The Rise (with billboards in New York, Toronto and LA), a Spotify billboard in Time Square, an Amazon billboard in downtown Los Angeles and National support from Apple music, including an Apple Music Song Stories feature.

The ability to take the momentum around the release and continue to broaden his reach in the United States, thanks to the funding from Radio Starmaker, helped propel this project to be the next significant Canadian export. We extended the campaign, continued building an audience for him, and made his platform even more substantial for future releases.

Mustafa created one-off, hand-curated events to showcase the album. Along with the marketing support, Mustafa received tour support for his notable performances in select United States cities, Paris and London. The shows were put on in beautiful spaces in each of these cities, and Mustafa created a unique listening experience for his fans, connected with the audience, and showcased the album's message. The additional funding from Starmaker helped to make these performances unforgettable to fans and create a word-of-mouth chain reaction that will help him sell out future shows across North America.

Dina Young
Label Manager
Pirates Blend