Entertainment
The EVOLUTION Magazine’ s Shout-out to Local Artists
It Takes a“ RIDE or DIE” Tribe for Recovery Road
KC musician Zack Mufasa’ s road to recovery by Clayton Stallings
With our continued support of local musicians who use cannabis to enhance their creative outlet and for their health and wellness journey, we recently had the opportunity to meet Zach Mufasa, a musician, through introductions from friends within the MO cannabis industry.
In between coming off the road from performing at the California Roots Music Festival in Monterey, CA, with Josh Heinrichs and 77 Jefferson, and the subsequent“ West Coastin” Tour, as well as performing at the King Ko’ ele Concerts’ Summer Reggae fest in Kona, HI, alongside Fortunate Youth, KC musician Zack Mufasa’ s“ Ride or Die” dropped last June. It is the artist’ s second offering from his solo project this year, seven years after the release of the previous EP.
Zack said,“ I felt like this song [ Ride or Die ] kind of came out of the guitar the more I sat down with it. I had just gotten my first classical guitar as a gift from my grandmother. When my great-grandma passed and we sold her house, my grandma told me her Mom said to her in a dream that I needed it, which always seemed really trippy and kind of spooky to me. The guitar has this really Spanish sound with its cypress top, and as soon as I started playing it, I wanted to write something like this. It was like an itch I needed to scratch— and it felt so good!”
The song also celebrates
Mufasa’ s unique storytelling as he navigates his road to recovery. After losing his mobility due to a catastrophic knee injury while skateboarding, Mufasa found himself deep in the bottle, but credits his friends, family, and girlfriend’ s constant check-ins for helping him on his road to recovery.
“ I came to a spot where I had to figure something out, because that wasn’ t working for me anymore. Let me first say how truly blessed I am to have so many people in my life who genuinely care about me,” says Mufasa.“ My band, my girlfriend, my parents( all four of em’), my closest friends— everybody had kind of checked in on me at different points and voiced some level of concern,( I really hadn’ t been myself since the injury) you know, like,‘ Hey man, you good?’ and that kind of raised a couple red flags, but not enough to get me out of a cycle.”
Mufasa continues,“ Eventually, everything came to a head, and I had to force myself to open up to the idea of change. I took some time to dry out and just sit with my thoughts, did some cannabis and psychedelic internally focused meditation. I even started seeing a therapist, which is a first for me. To be honest, I should have started earlier— LOL! The level of clarity and focus I’ ve been cultivating since then is something I’ m continuing to learn to expand on.”
The best way for you to support Mufasa’ s continued recovery and to support all local musicians is by listening to their music.
Check out Zack Mufasa on Spotify( scan the QR) to hear his new music drop, and visit www. zackmufasa. com.
30 October 2025