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Isaiah Mostafa: 'Graveshift'

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A photo collage of 5 images of a man wearing a red and brown jacket with designs and a green hoodie who is resting his arm on his knee and hand on his face.
Isaiah Mostafa  (Photo Courtesy of Dan Moore/Collage by Spencer Whitney of KQED)

The Sunday Music Drop is a weekly radio series hosted by the KQED weekend news team. In each segment, we feature a song from a local musician or band with an upcoming show and hear about what inspires their music.

Berkeley-raised producer and vocalist Isaiah Mostafa says there’s a certain authenticity within the art scene in the Bay Area, in part because of the historical legacy of revolutionary movements and organizations like the Black Panther Party.

Mostafa’s father was a producer, MC, DJ, and member of Aztlan Nation, a political Chicano hip-hop group from West Berkeley and Oakland. His mother was a singer and MC and his grandmother was a folk musician as well.

Mostafa describes his style as “music to stretch to.”

“I like focusing on music that isn’t even too focused on the words sometimes,” he said. “I like to listen to music that I don’t know what they’re saying…it’s in different languages.”

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During the pandemic, Mostafa moved to Hawaii and created a challenge where he would release a new song every week for 37 weeks on streaming platforms.

“I just grew exponentially in that time,” he said. “I got so much better at the start, finish, [and] release [of music]. I got so much better at believing in myself, I got so much better at planning.”

“Graveshift” is the first song in his next 37-week challenge. Mostafa plans to release new singles every Thursday. The concept of the song is about being caught in a cycle of working long hours and hating a job while being in a codependent relationship.

“I hope that my song ‘Graveshift’ helps people believe in themselves and realize how much they don’t have to be doing the thing that they don’t like doing,” he said.

The song includes guitar from Made by Harry and synth and additional production from Lehnen Raphael. Isaiah Mostafa will be performing at the SoFar Sounds show hosted at the Ground Floor social club in Oakland on Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m.

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