MC Stan: The rise of the controversial rapper
Updated on: 13 January, 2023 05:32 PM IST | Priyak Dhar
MC Stan is a rising name in the Indian hip-hop culture scene. Altaf Shaikh took the stage name, MC Stan, and went on to perform alongside rappers such as Emiway Bantai and Raftaar. He was raised in Pune, Maharashtra. The 23-year-old shot to fame after his rap battle with Emiway Bantai, Wata, crossed nine million views on YouTube. MC Stan also knows b-boying and beatboxing. He started singing qawwali when he was 12 years old. He is influenced by Eminem. He chose the name ‘Stan’ because Eminem fans are called Stans. Although not much is known about MC Stan’s family, but his lyrics are proof that he is close to his mother. His elder brother introduced him to rap. The rapper has also faced flak for his violent lyrics.
He makes beats for his own songs, making him one of the few dual-discipline hip-hop artists in India. A pioneer. as much as a product of the Pune hip-hop scene, MC STAN is a creative powerhouse and has come a long way from the narrow lanes of Tadiwala Road, where he grew up listening to qawwali. He started his hip-hop journey by sharing videos of him rapping on WhatsApp, but soon became an enigmatic phenomenon thanks to an incredible online community of fans, who have helped his songs reach audiences in India and around the world.
MC Stan`s album Tadipaar is a story told through six songs and six videos of his life in Pune, and captures his experiences with the police, fame and infamy, and what led to his ‘exile’ from Pune to Mumbai. Tadipaar serves as a showcase for MC STAN’s versatility as a rapper and producer, which isn’t tethered to genre classifications or trends. The finale runs 14 seconds short of eight minutes and reveals MC STAN the storyteller alongside the rapper. In the track, MC STAN’s writing is conversational, peppered with cussing, a bit of braggadocio and bluntness about the realities of a life on the streets.
Some of MC Stan’s popular songs are Khuja Mat (2019), Snake (2021), Ek Din Pyaar (2021), Broke Is A Joke (2021), Basti Ka Hasti (2022), and more.
