Nepal's New Prime Minister Is a Rapper With Millions of Views

Balendra Shah, the 35-year-old rapper known as Balen, has won a landslide election to become Nepal's new prime minister — making him one of the most prominent musicians ever to lead a national government.

Shah first rose to prominence not in parliament but on YouTube, where his rap videos have racked up millions of views since the early 2010s. His music is blunt, confrontational, and deeply tied to the frustrations of Nepal's younger generation. It's the kind of catalog that doubles as a political manifesto — raw bars about institutional corruption, infrastructure failures, and the forces shaping his country's future.

Before entering government, Shah trained as a civil engineer. But it was his mic skills and unfiltered lyrical style that made him a household name. In 2022, he pulled off what Al Jazeera called "a major upset for the political establishment" when he was elected mayor of Kathmandu, Nepal's capital city. From there, his political momentum only accelerated.

Shah's rise coincided with a massive Gen Z protest movement that swept Nepal in recent years. He became a leading voice for young citizens demanding accountability and systemic change. His trajectory from underground rapper to capital city mayor to national leader happened in just a few years — a political ascent almost as fast as a viral hit climbing the charts.

“Shah's rise coincided with a massive Gen Z protest movement that swept Nepal in recent years.”

He's not the only rapper to recently make the jump to executive office. Last year, Zohran Mamdani — a former MC who once submitted his music to blogs — was elected mayor of New York City. The two represent a growing global trend of artists who built cultural credibility through hip-hop before channeling that energy into governance.

For the music world, Shah's election is a striking reminder of rap's reach as a global force. Hip-hop has long served as a vehicle for social commentary, but seeing an active artist ascend to the highest office in a nation of 30 million underscores just how far the genre's influence extends beyond streaming numbers and award shows.

At 35, Shah is also one of the youngest heads of government in the world. Whether he governs with the same intensity he brings to the booth remains to be seen — but Nepal's new prime minister has already proven he knows how to command an audience.