Today, Toronto multi-talent Mustafa The Poet released a powerful and heartfelt short film dedicated to various artists, and people they’ve lost. It asks artists how they want to be remembered, and what keeps them going (stream it below).
If you’ve ever lost someone to street violence, regardless of what city you’re from, the stories and experiences shared within Remember Me, Toronto will speak to you. It’s about ensuring legacies live on.
Pilla B in Remember Me, Toronto
“‘Remember Me, Toronto’ is a project created for artists in this video & everyone in our communities. Gun violence and homicide rates in Toronto have been on a steady increase for the past decade. To realize that the greater issue is not between us, there is a larger beast and systemic structure working against us. The city’s ‘priority neighbourhoods’ are tucked away. They tuck away our truth and our humanity. We wanted to give these artists the opportunity to rewrite their memories and the memories of those they lost. We hope to spark larger conversations, that address these issues at their core.”
“With over 406 shooting incidents & 97 homicides, 2018 was a new high for gun-violence in Toronto.”
The production features some of the biggest artists coming out of Toronto including Drake, Baka Not Nice, Gilla, Pilla B, TJin, Pressa, Loco City, Smiley, Top5, Blockboi Twitch, Jay Whiss, Puffy L’z, Rax, Booggz, Yung Lava, and Mustafa himself.
Truly an impressive collection of talent, and a solid representation of what Toronto has to offer across different regions of the city.
Loco City in Remember Me, Toronto
As one YouTube user commented: “The fact that Mustafa could get so many people from different hoods to all be in the same video is crazy, give him some respect for being able to hold the peace and do that.”
Noah “40” Shebib is credited with creating the film’s score, Drex Jancar and Nickey Rei are credited as producers, and Mustafa is credited as Executive Producer along with film producer and Canadian hip-hop mainstay, Sol Guy.
“I want to be remembered as someone who was sincere. Even if I made mistakes, they were made in sincerity. If I was wrong, I was wrong in sincerity.” – Malcolm X
Mustafa was good friends with Jahvante “Smoke Dawg” Smart who was gunned down in Toronto on June 30, 2018 at just 21-years-old. Smoke Dawg’s heartfelt words can be heard in the introduction.
Pressa in Remember Me, Toronto
Overall, Remember Me, Toronto should be a must-see for any Canadian hip-hop fan-the film as well as the message it brings. It brings much needed hope for unity within the Toronto scene, and the confidence that some of the biggest players in the game are leading the charge.
Mustafa and his team deserve recognition from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for this.
“We asked them how they want to be remembered…”
You can check out Remember Me, Toronto below, and stay tuned for follow up videos including Remember Me, Mama, which will capture “mothers speaking on how they want their murdered sons to be remembered.”
You can follow @MustafaThePoet on Instagram.
