Emiway Bantai (Indian Rapper)
Emiway Bantai | |
|---|---|
Emiway Bantai | |
 Emiway won MTV EMA 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth Name | Bilal Shaikh |
| Born | 13 November 1995 |
| Origin | Mumbai 37 |
| Genres | Rap, Hip Hop, RnB, Chopper, Commercial |
| Occupation | Rapper, Lyricist, Singer, Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2013 - till date |
| Subscribers on YouTube | 15.9M |
| Total views on YouTube | 2.4B |
| Labels founded: | Bantai Records |
Bilal Shaikh, popularly known as Emiway Bantai, is the Biggest Independent Rapper from India. He received mainstream attention following a diss battle with fellow rapper Raftaar and single hits like 'Machayenge' in 2019, "Firse Machayenge" in 2020 and "Khatam Hue Waande" in 2020. He is featured in 2019 Musical film, Gully Boy and has won MTV Europe Music Award in 2019.
Career
In 2013, Emiway released his first track "Glint Lock" on YouTube, followed by "Aur Bantai" which became his first hit song with over 10M views (as of 2021). He won the Best Hip-Hop Artist (People’s Choice) Award at Radio City Freedom Awards in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and is the only artist to have won the award multiple times.
Emiway said in an Interview that his name is inspired by "Eminem" and "Lil Wayne".
In 2017, Emiway released the song "#SADAK" with an appearance of Bollywood Rapper, Raftaar. A remix was supposed to be released in collaboration with rapper Raftaar in 2018 which was never released.
In 2018, he entered into a diss battle with Raftaar. It started when Raftaar in an interview claimed Emiway is not earning money after which Emiway released his diss track titled "Samajh Mein Aaya Kya" to which Raftaar responded with "Sheikh Chilli". Emiway responded with a diss track titled "Giraftaar" to which Raftaar reponded with "Awein Hai" which turned out to be a flop. Lastly, Emiway released the diss track titled "Khatam" which destroyed Raftaar's career. All 3 diss tracks by Emiway sits at over 110M views on YouTube.
In 2020, he entered into another diss battle with Divine. It started when Divine poked Emiway in an Instagram live saying "Real rappers talk about stream in Audio platforms and anyone can get views on YouTube. Divine's album has 70M streams which is a big number". To this, Emiway indirectly, responded in his song "Hard" where he mentioned "His 1 song Machayenge has over 110M streams on Audio platforms which is the dream of these kids.". Following this, Divine released 2 diss tracks aimed at Emiway and Emiway finally, responded with the most brutal Diss Track in Desi Hip Hop history titled "Gully ka Kutta". The beef ended with Divine saying in Instagram live that he did not target Emiway in his statement about audio platform streams.
In 2019, he released "Machayenge" which became an instant hit with over 210M organic views on YouTube and over 120M streams. He was awarded the "Best Indian Act" at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards for his song "Freeverse Feast (Dawat)". In 2020, Emiway represented India at YouTube Fanfest. He has collaborated with International artists like Chris Gayle (One of the Biggest Cricketers in the World), Macklemore (Grammy Award winner), Dax, Snoop Dogg, Lexz Pryde, THEMXXNLIGHT, Celina Sharma and Kara Marni.
In 2020, Emiway represented India at YouTube Fanfest Asia.
In 2021, Emiway Bantai was the Judge of the Reality show "Red Bull Spotlight" by Red Bull.
In 2021, Emiway Bantai launched his own label "Bantai Records" which has signed 7 artists under it namely Loka, Hellac, Swaalina, Thoratt, Meme Machine, Minta and Young Galib. The YouTube channel of Bantai Records reached 100K subscribers in less than 24 hours following launch.
As of 2021, the most popular song of Emiway Bantai is "Firse Machayenge" which was released in 2020 and sits at over 410M organic views on YouTube with over 5.5M likes.
Respect in DHH
Emiway Bantai is one of the most respected artists in Desi Hip Hop and legends in the Indian Music Industry have openly admitted that Emiway is their favorite artist.
In 2019, Yo Yo Honey Singh (the biggest Bollywood artist in India) said in the press release of his song LOCO that his favorite artist is Emiway Bantai. He went further to say that Emiway is not only a rapper but also an Entertainer. Emiway's song "Jump Kar" is his favorite song.
In 2021, Baba Seghal (The first mainstream rapper in India) said his favorite artist is Emiway Bantai because Emiway is the most versatile artist in India and is highly consistent having released over 100 songs in his career.
International artists have also shown their respect toward Emiway Bantai. This includes Tech9ine (a legend) who defended Emiway in Instagram's comment section when some fake accounts were bad mouthing Emiway. Russ said in Instagram that he will collaborate with Emiway and Divine from India. Other artists who expressed their interest to collaborate with Emiway includes Tech9ine, RMR, Ali Gatie and many more.
Other Indian rappers who respected Emiway includes: Ikka (another rapper originally in Yo Yo Honey Singh's label) said he respects Emiway's hustle and take on creating versatile works in a short time. Forty Seven (a rapper from Gurgaon) said he respects Emiway and said Emiway is the biggest Independent rapper in the World and is biggest in terms of numbers. King (another Independent rapper) mentioned in his Instagram live that he would love to collaborate with Emiway. Brodha V (a rapper from Bangalore) said in 2017 that his favorite rapper is Emiway but later changed his opinion on getting a song offer from Raftaar (the rapper who beefed with Emiway in 2018). Krsna (a rapper signed under Raftaar) said in 2017 that is desperately wanted to collaborate with Emiway which did happen in the first half of 2018 but later, went on to bad mouth about Emiway after Raftaar's beef as Raftaar was his boss.
In 2020, Muhfaad (Old friend of Emiway and Raftaar) in his song "Aelaan" said he regrets for dissing Emiway in 2018 and he was forced to do so by Raftaar in return for an appearance in a reality show MTV Spotlight which he was later denied.
Personal Life
Emiway lives in Mumbai, India with his parents and small brother. He has credited his parents for his success. Emiway's smaller brother has the stage name "V Break". Emiway said in an interview that it was his father who adviced him to rap in Hindi (local language of India) instead of rapping in English like others did in 2013. Emiway followed his father's advice.
From education side, Emiway had failed class 12 though his goal was to pursue MBBS to become a Doctor. After failing class 12, he decided to go into Rap and his parents supported his decision. His second song "Aur Bantai" was a big hit on YouTube and it was the turning point.
Emiway is considered to be very down to Earth and always talks to random fans on Instagram Live after a day following his song release.
As of 2021, Emiway's girlfriend is Swaalina (appeared in "Firse Machayenge" song). In 2018, Mukkta K (previously, appeared in multiple music videos of Emiway) said she is the ex-girlfriend of Emiway in a reality show.
Emiway has a total worth of ₹25 crores (or $3.4M) making him one of the top 5 richest rappers in India.
Discography
Extended plays
- Mein (2017)
| Song | Written & Performed By | Music Produced By |
|---|---|---|
| "Mein" | Emiway | Emiway |
| "Abbu" | ||
| "Jhand Hai" | ||
| "Asli Nakli" |
- No Brands (2019)
| Song | Written and Performed By | Music Produced By |
|---|---|---|
| "Checkmate" | Emiway | Flamboy |
| "Zaruratich Nahi Hai" | ||
| "Sab Kuch New" | ||
| "No Brands" |
- Dhundke Dikha (2020)
| Song | Written & Performed By | Music Produced By |
|---|---|---|
| "Billal" (Intro) | Emiway | Robert Tar |
| "Dhundke Dikha" | ||
| "Miss Tujhe" | Hippy Jack | |
| "Grind" | Flamboy | |
| "Bantai" | Bass Mutant | |
| "Feel" (Outro) | Ryini |
Singles
Singles and Collaboration
| Year | Track | Artist(s) | Music Produced By | hideAdditional Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Glint Lock | Emiway ft. Minta | Emiway | Debut single |
| F.O.U.R Square | Emiway ft. Minta | |||
| 2014 | Aur Bantai | Emiway | ||
| SOONN | Emiway ft. Frezz | |||
| FreeVerse (2014) | Emiway ft. Dopeadelicz | |||
| 2015 | Googly | Emiway ft. Frezz | ||
| Na Maine Jaana | Emiway | |||
| Maa | ||||
| Bhingri Song | Emiway ft. V Break | |||
| Mera Naam Bantai | Emiway ft. Gagan | |||
| Ganda Flow | Emiway | |||
| 2016 | Soch | |||
| Aisa Kuch Shot Nai Hai | ||||
| Tadak Padak | Moon Pixel Entertainment | |||
| 2017 | Dynamite | Emiway | Emiway | |
| Kala Dhan | Emiway | A song on the demonetization that took place on 8 November 2016. | ||
| Mumbai Se Delhi Tak | Emiway ft. KR$NA | PSYIK | ||
| #Sadak | Emiway ft. Raftaar | PSYIK | ||
| 2018 | Mera Bhai Mera Bhai | Emiway | Robert Tar | |
| Abbe Chodna | Emiway ft. Muhfaad | Muhfaad | ||
| #NoRape (Justice for Asifa and Every Victim) | Emiway | Deepak Poojari | ||
| Mazak Hai Kya | Robert Tar | |||
| Kaun Hu Mein | Flamboy | |||
| Kadak Ban | ||||
| Out of Sampark | ||||
| Samajh Mein Aaya Kya | These 3 songs were diss tracks aimed at Raftaar | |||
| Giraftaar | Bass Mutants | |||
| Khatam | ||||
| Bhot Hard | Emiway ft. Thoratt | Tony James | ||
| Tribute to Eminem | Emiway | Flamboy | ||
| Jump Kar | ||||
| 2019 | Machayenge | Tony James | ||
| Dhyan De | Emiway ft. Kraytwinz | Kraytwinz | Emiway's first international collaboration | |
| Skrrt Karenge | Emiway ft. Meme Machine | Crazy Vibe | ||
| Freeverse Feast (Daawat) | Emiway | Jacko Beats | ||
| Jallad | Flamboy | |||
| I Been That | Emiway ft. Dax | Lex Nour | ||
| Bajo | Emiway | Tony James | ||
| Seedha Takeover | Flamboy | |||
| Lean On | Celina Sharma ft. Emiway | Lavinia Noel | ||
| Pagal Sa Rapper | Emiway | Bass Mutant | ||
| Dhua Dua | Emiway | Call Me G X Evince | ||
| 2020 | Bharosa | Emiway | Happy Jack | |
| Night Rider | Emiway ft. THEMXXNLIGHT | Sledgren & Alecto | ||
| Firse Machayenge | Emiway | Tony James | ||
| Batista Bomb | Chris Rich Beats | |||
| Kahatam Karona | PSYIK | |||
| Superhit | Juankobeatsoff | |||
| Hard | Hippy Jack | |||
| Gully Ka Kutta | Flamboy | Diss track aimed at Divine. | ||
| New World | Emiway ft. Snoop Dogg & Lexz Pryde | Kiran Bengal & Nick Price | ||
| Firse Machayenge Remix | Emiway ft. Macklemore | Tony James | ||
| Round One | Emiway | Pendo46 | ||
| Kaun Hai Ye | ||||
| Lonely | Emiway ft. Prznt | Vodli | ||
| Charge | Emiway ft. Nana Rogues | Nana Rogues | ||
| Thanks to God | Emiway | Pendo46 | ||
| Ladka Alag Sa | Flamboy | |||
| As Salaam Walekum | Flamboy | |||
| 100 Kadam Pe | Pendo46 | |||
| Khona Hai | Meme Machine | |||
| Khatam Hue Waande | Yoki | |||
| Ring Ring | Emiway ft. Meme Machine | Meme Machine | ||
| Don't Be The One | Emiway ft. Kara Marni | Flamboy | ||
| Royal Rumble | Emiway | Bkay | ||
| 2021 | What Can I Do | Emiway | Flamboy | |
| No Love | Emiway ft. Loka | AAKASH | ||
| Jamaica To India | Emiway ft. Chris Gayle | Tony James | ||
| Shy | Emiway | Meme Machine | ||
| Sath Mai | Emiway Ft. Swaalina and Meme Machine | Meme Machine | ||
| Paani Mai | Emiway Ft. Swaalina and Young Galib | Tony James, Yoki Muzik |
Awards
| Year | Nominated work | Category | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Aisa Kuch Shot Nai Hai | Best Hip-Hop Artist (People’s Choice) | Radio City Freedom Awards | Won |
| 2016 | YouTube channel | Total Subscribers on YouTube: 100K | Silver play button | Won |
| 2017 | Tadak Padak | Best Hip-Hop Artist (People’s Choice) | Radio City Freedom Awards | Won |
| 2018 | Jump Kar | Best Hip-Hop Artist (People’s Choice) | Radio City Freedom Awards | Won |
| 2018 | YouTube channel | Total Subscribers on YouTube: 1M | Gold play button | Won |
| 2019 | Freeverse Feast (song) | Indian Act | MTV Europe Music Awards | Won | 2020 | YouTube channel | Total Subscribers on YouTube: 10M | Diamond play button | Won |