DEARBORN — Ahmed Moneka, who currently resides in Toronto, has become the first Iraqi to be nominated for a Canadian Juno Award.

The Juno Awards are the highest form of honor and recognition in the music industry in Canada.

Moneka was born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq and fed off of his rich Sufi African heritage for inspiration for his music.

“My father was born in Basrah, in southern Iraq and moved to Baghdad in the 1970s and his family comes from an Afro-Iraqi family Moneka with a rich Sufi African heritage that originated from Mombasa in the seventh century,” he said. “My mom was born and raised in Baghdad.”

Moneka’s music is described as a “joyful and transcendent mix of African grooves and Arabic folk melodies, informed by contemporary funk, soul and jazz.”

He moved to Toronto as a refugee from Baghdad in September of 2015 while attending a Toronto international film festival with a movie that he co-wrote and starred in called The Society, which discusses gay rights after he began receiving death threats.

Prior to leaving Baghdad, Moneka studied theater at the Institute of Fine Art and at the Academy of Fine Art before becoming the first Black Iraqi to host a television program, the youngest member of the Iraqi National Theatre and playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in Baghdad at the Royal Shakespeare Company in England. He also performed with The Forum Theatre, Iraqi Theatre Company, Street Art Company and Baghdad Theatre Company and traveled to Morocco, Jordan, Egypt and several other festivals.

It was in Toronto that he was inspired to pursue music.

“Toronto and its diverse music scene opened my mind to different genres and also the language, as an actor who lost his words in Arabic finds singing in Arabic a new way to communicate to his new city and community,” he said. “And of course, Iraqi Maqam, Afro Golf and the great Bobs… Marley and Dylan, among others. Toronto welcomed me with open arms, and that warmth gave me the freedom to truly express myself. Here, I’ve had the chance to share my music — the soundtrack of my life — not just with local audiences, but across Canada and around the world.”

Moneka’s sophomore album, Kanzafula, is the first Iraqi album to be nominated for a Canadian Juno award and also won a Dora and a Stingray Rising Star Award.

“Sometimes, melodies come first to me when I hear them in my head,” Moneka said. “I record them on my phone. I also record any inspiration that strikes me deeply on my phone. Sometimes lyrics come first and I write them down. I always generate ideas, even if no idea seems reasonable at first. I revisit them with a fresh mind to develop them further, and then I take them to my band for more development. I love collaboration and I see it as the core of my process, and then you’ll see the result will become beautiful.”

Having followed his passion to get to where he is today, Moneka said it’s important to follow your heart in everything that you do. 

“Follow your heart and don’t hesitate to show who you are and where you come from,” he said. “The personal is universal. What comes from the heart goes to the heart. Be responsive to your place, time and community, and create an impact through your feelings, love, struggles, issues that bother you or questions you seek answers to. When you connect to your roots, you’ll become a tree.”

Moneka is currently working with The Tragically Hip on the 2026 production of It’s a Good Life if You Don’t Weaken, a musical based on the Hip’s catalogue of Canadian classics with producer Michael Rubinoff.

“I feel incredibly lucky to work with some of the best musicians in the city,” he told The Arab American News. “They’re stars in their own right, each bringing their unique heritage and flavor to the mix. Collaborating with them inspires me deeply and together we create a sound that could only be born here. It’s the sound of Toronto — diverse, rich and unmistakably alive.”

Moneka’s music can be found on all music streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple, YouTube, etc.