“Emiway did something I didn’t like, so I was messing with him. That’s basically it,” says Stan, quite taciturn about this phase of his career. Regardless, it turned out to be a shrewd business decision, keeping him in the headlines and significantly raising his profile. But with fame came other problems. People in his neighbourhood started threatening him, trying to pick fights in the hope that some of that glamour rubbed off on them too.
Stan’s friends too were getting deeper into trouble. He claims that he kept his hands clean, but his friends kept doing more and more of what he calls “gangsta sh*t”, bringing them to the attention of the local police. There was plenty of harassment by cops, even a charge sheet or two. Some of the strain he was under—and the second thoughts he was having about repping the “gangsta” life—can be heard on 2019’s Astaghfirullah, a song about asking Allah and his mother to forgive him for his sins. Rapping over a mournful windwood sample, Stan dug deep for the lyrics, displaying an emotional vulnerability that was at odds with his in-your-face persona. The song earned him plenty of new fans, including rueful U-turns by many of his detractors.
In 2020 he released his debut album Tadipaar, an autobiographical account of his exile from Pune to Mumbai, after he was implicated in an attempt-to-murder case. Over beats that blended Indian flute and traditional instrumentation with 808s and blown-out bass, Stan painted a grim portrait of life in Tadiwala Road, with gritty portrayals of police brutality and internecine violence. Hailed as one of the year’s best Indian rap albums, Tadipaar established Stan as not just rapper-par-excellence, but also one of Indian hip-hop’s most innovative producers.
He followed Tadipaar up with a string of experimental mumble-rap videos, channelling the work of Atlanta trailblazers Young Thug and Future. His 2022 sophom*ore album Insaan incorporated autotuned melodies and cinematic soundscapes, with lyrics that alternated between deep, dark confessions and bawdy braggadocio. The album’s 11 tracks paint a portrait of a supremely confident young man, but also a lonely one, licking the wounds left by those he loved and trusted.
There’s something deeply sad about that sentiment, but Stan has no time for self-pity. Late last year, when the producers of Bigg Boss approached him to take part in the 16th season of the show, he surprised many Indian hip-hop fans by saying yes. Stan says he saw it as an opportunity to spread knowledge about hip-hop and change how people thought about rappers like him. “I wanted to show people that I’m a rapper, but I’m also just like you,” he says. “We’re normal people, we don’t just do gangsta sh*t all day. I’m an artist, not a gangster.”
Despite the fact that he won, walking away with a new car and a cool Rs 31 lakh, you get the sense that it wasn’t a great experience for Stan. “People like us can’t go on that show,” he says. “It’s for people who really want to be famous, they love getting exposure for a hundred days straight. But I’m quite camera-shy. So when I found out that the show is on for 24 hours on Voot, I got really anxious.”
But he also acknowledges that Bigg Boss catapulted him to a level of fame that even he hadn’t imagined. He can no longer go to the kirana store to buy groceries without getting mobbed. Offers for big-money partnerships and brand endorsem*nts keep rolling in. Earlier this year, the boy from Tadiwala Road was featured on a billboard in New York’s Times Square, to promote his single with Indian American producer KSHMR and New Delhi rapper-producer Phenom.
“That was a really great moment,” he says, basking in the glory of the achievement for just a second. But then his outsized ambition kicks in. “Now I have to bring Times Square to Tadiwala Road.”
This year is set to be full of big moves for Stan. He’s just featured on Badshah’s slinky, velvet-gloved braggadocio cut Drinks on Me, his most high-profile collaboration yet. Badshah is set to return the favour on Mehfeel, MC Stan’s upcoming third album, due sometime after Ramadan ends (“Boht kadak, it’s gonna be some hard sh*t,” he says of the collab). He hints at plenty of other big-name features on the record, though he’s tight-lipped about the specifics.
“In the hood, when all the homies hang out at one spot on the road, shooting sh*t and solving any problems we have with each other, that’s called a mehfeel,” he says. “Thug life, hip-hop, gang-gang, Vimal, vadapav, Opps, Bhabhi’s number—you’ll get everything in Stan’s mehfeel.”
Like many rappers before him, Stan’s dreams go beyond just music. He wants to start his own record label—called Hindi Records—and there’s at least two other business ventures that he plans to launch this year. Eventually, he wants to be the Indian Jay-Z, not just a rapper but a pop culture icon and a business mogul with his own empire. He’s already good on the first two fronts. I wouldn’t bet against a clean sweep.
Photographs by Tito
Styled by Selman Fazil
