Bilal Shaikh (born 13 November 1995), best known by his stage name Emiway Bantai, is an Indian hip-hop artist, rapper and producer. An independent artist, he has built a fan base entirely through social media, releasing popular videos for singles such as "Machayenge" (2019) and "Firse Machayenge" (2020) to reach a global audience. Inspired as a teen in Mumbai by American rapper Eminem, Emiway has collaborated with American rappers such as Macklemore, Snoop Dogg and Token. He is also known for his involvements in major feuds with rappers like Raftaar, DIVINE, MC Stan, and KR$NA.
Early life and education Mohammed Bilal Shaikh was born in 1995 in Bengaluru, India. Around the age of three, he moved with his father to Mumbai. He grew up in Antop Hill, where he learned Mumbai slang.
In 2010, his classmates introduced him to his first hip-hop track, "Not Afraid" by Eminem. After dropping out from class 12, he became depressed and did not complete school. To earn money, Shaikh worked as a helper at the Hard Rock Cafe.
Career
2013-2017: Early years Shaikh came up with the stage name Emiway by combining the names of two of his idols; Eminem and Lil Wayne. Bantai is Mumbai slang for friend, brother, or "bro".
In 2013, at the age of 18, Emiway Bantai released his debut track "Glint Lock (ft. Minta)", mostly in English. The song failed to gain much notice. Emiway then followed his father's advice and switched to rapping in Hindi. In 2015, his single "Aur Bantai" became a breakthrough hit. Within five years, the video for "Aur Bantai" had more than 6 million views on YouTube. He appeared on the reality show India's Got Talent, to perform the song, but was rejected by the judges including filmmaker Karan Johar. In the years since, he has established himself as a multilingual rapper who spits bars in Hindi, English, Marathi, and Tamil.
2018: First rap feud His high-profile feud with rapper Raftaar took place over five diss tracks, starting in 2018 when Emiway was 22 years old. In 2017, Emiway and Raftaar had collaborated on "#Sadak". In the following year, in September, Raftaar appeared on a podcast with Raaj Jones, where he questioned if fellow rapper Emiway Bantai was generating enough revenue from hip-hop. Emiway took offense and shot back with the track "Samajh Mein Aaya Kya?" ("Do You Understand?"), in which he defends himself as an independent artist. Raftaar responded with his own track, "Sheikh Chilli", where he called out Emiway for taking the statement out of context, while Emiway responded again with "Giraftaar". Raftaar responded with "Awein Hai". Emiway then responded with the final diss "Khatam" ("The End").
2019-2021: Mainstream popularity By 2019, Rolling Stone India noted that Emiway was "one of the very few music artists in India that [had] catapulted themselves into stardom solely with the use of social media". According to Platform magazine, Emiway had "cracked the code to building a die-hard fandom entirely online" as an independent artist. In addition, Emiway changed his look significantly, sporting a beard and shades which became his trademark.
In 2019, Emiway Bantai went viral with the song "Machayenge" on TikTok and other platforms. He wrote the track after three successive releases of angst-filled rap songs. Producer Tony James composed the dance track. Emiway released "Boht Hard" featuring Thoratt in the same year, which also went viral.
Emiway Bantai was featured in the music video of the song "Asli Hip-Hop" from the movie Gully Boy starring Ranveer Singh and directed by Zoya Akhtar, released in 2019. Emiway and other local rappers from Mumbai were also consultants on the script. The film helped to bring desi hip-hop to a mass audience. Other popular tracks by Emiway in 2019 included "Dhyan De" and "Skrrt Karenge". In 2019, Emiway released "Freeverse Feast (Daawat)", where he claimed that "he's the only rapper representing India worldwide".
On Valentine's Day in 2020, Emiway Bantai released "Firse Machayenge". Co-starring Swaalina and shot by Nepal-born filmmaker Nishan Bujel, the video garnered 100 million views within its first 50 days. In June 2020, Emiway released "Firse Machayenge Remix", a collaboration with American hip-hop artist Macklemore. "Firse Machayenge" went on to become one of the top 10 YouTube music videos in India in 2020, peaking at No. 7 with 315 million views.
In 2020, Emiway released the song "Khatam Korona", urging people to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The song quickly went viral, amassing 4 million views on YouTube by 2 April 2020. He also featured on the song "New World" by Lexz Pryde alongside American rapper Snoop Dogg, which was a remix of Pryde's 2016 single "Motivate".
After 8 years of releasing singles and EPs, Emiway finally released his debut album, Malum Hai Na in 2021. The album features songs such as "Machayenge 3", "My Time", "Hai Tu Kaun" and "Jawab De", an intense, introspective rap about fighting his own personal demons. Emiway was featured as the cover artist for the October edition of Rolling Stone India.
2021: Bantai Records In 2021, Emiway started his own independent label, Bantai Records. Emiway told Rolling Stone India that Bantai Records gave artists "complete freedom to decide what they want to release, when and where". In its first year, artists with the label included Hellac, Loka, Meme Machine, Minta, Swaalina, Thoratt, Tony James, and Young Galib. In an interview with The Indian Express, Emiway described the label as "a record label, where we give artistes complete creative freedom to make the music they like to make". 2022-present : Feud with KR$NA, King of the Streets and other projects After the release of some tracks containing subliminal disses on each other, the beef between KR$NA and Emiway escalated in 2022, when Emiway released "Chusamba", in response to which KR$NA released "Lil Bunty". Emiway again responded with "KR L$DA SIGN", and KR$NA released "Machayenge 4", referring to Emiway's popular song series. Emiway retorted with his own version, "MACHAYENGE 4", and was met with widespread backlash, which prompted him to delete the track for a while after its original release. In 2023, Emiway released his third studio album, King of the Streets. The longest of the 17 tracks on the album, "King of Indian Hip Hop", had dropped the week prior, with diss bars targeting MC Stan and an implied subliminal diss against Badshah. . Four other tracks, including "Company" and "King of Indian Hip-Hop", had received music videos prior to the album's release. Calling the album "refreshing", a review in The Indian Music Diaries called out "Chhod Dala", "Rule No. 123", and "Survive" as "standouts" from Emiway's usual style.
In 2023, Emiway became the only Indian hip-hop artist to be featured on Times Square twice. He featured in 2020 for his debut album Malum Hai Na and for a second time in 2023 for his album King Of The Streets.
Emiway also embroiled in a feud with rapper King due to the latter's song "F*CK WHAT THEY SAY" containing subtle jabs at the rapper. Emiway responded with a track titled, "ROKO 2MG". King further released two tracks exclusively on Instagram and Emiway responded with "Meet the Instagram Yapper" and "Dependent Kauve".
In 2025, Emiway released the single, "Badshah", from his EP, Bajis. He further released four more tracks from the EP, including "Tribute to Sidhu Moose Wala". In an interview with Firstpost, he revealed that old Hindi film songs featuring actor Shah Rukh Khan were the main inspiration behind the EP's sound. In 2025, Emiway also released his fifth studio album From The Streets To The Streams, releasing 10 music videos from the album.
In 2026, Emiway collaborated with American rapper Token for the song "#SADAK 2.0". He further released his eighth EP, CNSTNCY. In the wake of 2026 Delhi Jantar Mantar protests, Emiway released the protest anthem "BOLRA HAI SADAK". Emiway made his debut in Bollywood with the song "Choozay" from the soundtrack of the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Udta Teer.
Awards
People's Choice Award (2017-19) for Best Hip-Hop Artist for three consecutive years at the Radio City Freedom Awards. MTV Europe Music Awards for Best India Act in 2019. Indian Independent Music Awards (2022) for Best Classical Song - "Machayenge"
Personal life Emiway Bantai married actor and singer Swaalina, sharing pictures from their private wedding ceremony on Instagram in January 2025. They had worked together famously on "Firse Machayenge" in 2020 and many other music videos.
Filmography
Movies
Gully Boy (2019) as himself
Documentaries
The Mind Behind (2019) The Story Behind Machayenge (2020)
Television
India's Got Talent (2018) as Contestant Red Bull Spotlight (2021) as Judge Bigg Boss OTT (2023) as Guest
Discography
Albums +Year Album Tracks Artist Producer(s)2021Malum Hai Na Malum Hai Na (Intro) Momma Chalte Firte Freeverse Feast 2 My Time Machayenge 3 Always On Top Hai Tu Kaun Kyu Jane De Gum Ko Vata Jawab De Bantai Ki Public Aisa Kuch Shot Nahi Hai (Remix) Believe (Outro)Emiway Bantai Meme Machine Tony James Jaykll AAKASH Young Taylor Flamboy Ryini Beats20228 Saal Mera (Intro) Mera 8 Saal Kaha Par Hun Pain Focus Haq Hai Life Is Good ChocoEmiway Bantai Lexnour Pendo46 Abyss Prod Emiway Bantai Memax Cheap Thrills2023King Of The Streets KOTS (Prelude) KOTS (Intro) Chhod Dala Jhakas Meherbani Company Beta Karta Rap Kya Din The Woh Roots Scene Change Rule no.123 Waqt Ke Sath (Interlude) Survive (ft. VBreak) KOTS (Freestyle) Kya Bolti Public (ft. Young Galib) Classy Chapri King of Indian Hip HopEmiway Bantai Pendo46 Lexnour JustDan Beats llogans Enigma Beats Babz Beats Robert Tar 9thaGod Citron Beatz Memax Sinato Beats Zero Beatz Xistence Bxl Grapes Gore Ocean nobuddy kylo beats MYK Beats2024Wholeheartedly Aksar Unplugged (ft. The Rish) Bolna Tu Bantai Tu Tera Dekh Aksar (ft. The Rish) Fake Ones (ft. Shez & Flowbo) 4U Remix (ft. Maanu) Boht Kuch (ft. Flowbo & Young Galib) Theek Hu Main (ft. Hellac) Rollercoaster (ft. Young Galib)Emiway Bantai The Rish Avanto Hippy Jack AAKASH Memax Maanu2025From The Streets To The Streams Dubai Company Aflatoon (ft. Naezy) Hawa Mei Hu Mat Kar Lala Lightspeed Mera Naam Hai Samandar Woh Banaya Sorat Log Kya Kahenge Those Dayz FTSTTS FreeverseEmiway Bantai Tony James Memax Keman Beatz Emiway Bantai Extended plays
+YearEP Tracks Artist Producer(s)2017MEIN Asli Nakli
ABBU Jhand Hai MEINEmiway BantaiEmiway Bantai 2019No Brands Checkmate Zaruratich Nahi Hai Sab Kuch New No BrandsEmiway BantaiFlamboy2020Dhundke Dikha Billal (Intro) Dhundke Dikha Miss Tujhe Grind Bantai Feel (Outro)Emiway Bantai Robert Tar Hippy Jack Flamboy Bass Mutant Ryini Beats2022Monsoon Busy (ft. Young Galib) Bhool Ja (ft. Ben Z, Memax, Young Galib) Kuch Aur (ft. Vaksh) Changed (ft. Young Galib) Yakeen (ft. Young Galib & Memax)Emiway Bantai Harsh Sohi Memax PALE 1080 Nishit Basumatary2024sPEAK The End EVIL = EVIL Gani Bhai ElevateEmiway Bantai Abyss Memax Emiway Bantai2024Northern Nights Duniya Naraz Nazare Misunderstood Mera Na Hua Maaf Karo Safar Revontulet (Outro)Emiway Bantai Memax Emiway Bantai Backyard2025BAJIS Badshah Josh Mei (ft. Young Galib) Tribute to Sidhu Moosewala Paisa Paisa Kaali Kaali AankheinEmiway Bantai Tony James Memax2026CNSTNCY LEGEND Life Chhabi Kar (ft. MC R1) Meri Tarah Kaun Jab Tak Mein Zinda Hu (ft. MC Insane) Jo Mein Hu Kyu? (ft. Swaalina) Bus Tu PRIMOEmiway Bantai Memax Emiway Bantai 10A
Singles discography
As lead artist +Title Year Producer(s)Notes Glint Lock (ft. Minta)2013Emiway BantaiFirst singleTap on the Floor (ft. Minta & Damsy)Yeh Meri Zindagi (ft. Monu Bid)F.O.U.R. Square (ft. Minta)2014Aur BantaiBewafa Ho DafaHateli KhopdiNa Maine Jana 2015Mera Naam Bantai