Ahmad has stuttered since elementary school — and discovered early on that the stutter disappears completely when he raps. Under the name
Chah Got Beats, he's spent years turning that discovery into a career in music production.
In this conversation, he traces the whole arc: the shame he carried as a kid, using alcohol as a teenager to find confidence he didn't otherwise have, and eventually finding in music a way to say what he'd never been able to say out loud. He also opens up about growing up with a mother who had schizophrenia, and losing his father to cancer — a loss that catches up with him mid-conversation.
He closes by sharing an ongoing music project raising donations for humanitarian relief in Palestine, along with his own perspective on that conflict.
Come to think of it.
Reasoning with Mustapha explores history, faith, and culture through honest, long-form conversation — less about conclusions, more about asking better questions.
What is Reasoning with Mustapha?
Reasoning with Mustapha is a space for honest conversations about the things that actually matter — history, faith, culture, science, and the personal experiences that don't always make it into the mainstream conversation. Hosted by Mustapha, who grew up in Morocco and has spent years in the Bay Area — a journey between cultures that sparked a deep curiosity about people and the questions that don't have clear-cut answers. No claims to having it all figured out. Just genuine curiosity, one conversation at a time.