Mvstermind

North St. Louis Upbringing

Mvstermind, born Muhammad Austin, is a rapper and producer born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up in the Fairground Park area of North St. Louis. From age six he took part in the St. Louis school desegregation program and was bused to schools in Clayton. His father was a percussionist and reggae band manager. He began making beats at 12 and started rapping as a teenager. He has performed as an independent hip-hop artist since 2009.

Cusp

Mvstermind first drew wide attention in St. Louis with the nine-track EP Cusp, released in October 2016 and celebrated with a show at Delmar Hall on October 21, 2016. The lead single, "Mali Moolah," is named for Mansa Musa, the ruler of the medieval Mali Empire. Other songs on the EP deal with meditation, gun violence in inner cities and the desegregation program he grew up in. Over the following years he toured independently, covering more than 30,000 miles. He played LouFest, A3C and SXSW and shared stages with Travis Scott, Chance the Rapper, Lupe Fiasco and Nas. He was named a Tidal Rising artist. In 2020 he split a planned 23-song album into three EPs, Be, Great and Fool, which together spell out "be grateful." He released the single "Distance" in August 2023.

Building Infrastructure at Home

Much of Mvstermind's work has gone into building the St. Louis scene. In 2019 he founded Mvstercamp, an intensive program that teaches local artists stage performance, marketing and the business side of music. Participants then perform at the Music at the Intersection festival. He also created Studybreaks and Beats, a music-production program for schools and community centers, and runs The Gem, an arts incubator.

Before St. Louis CITY SC's first Major League Soccer season in 2023, the club named him Director of Musical Experience. He created the role himself, modeling it on Big Sean's position with the Detroit Pistons. In it he books local artists and curates the music at CityPark. In October 2022 St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones declared October 2 Mvstermind Day.