MC Shan

Shawn Moltke (born September 6, 1965), better known by his stage name MC Shan, is an American rapper, singer and record producer from the Queensbridge section of Queens, New York City. Beginning his career in the early-1980s, He is best known for his 1986 single "The Bridge," which was produced by Marley Marl and entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Shan is also known for his guest appearance and production on Canadian singer Snow's 1992 single "Informer", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100.

Career

In 1985, Shan signed with MCA Records to release his debut single, "Feed the World", which became his only song with the label. He was also interviewed in the 1986 cult documentary Big Fun In The Big Town. MCA were not sure about what to do with hip hop, thus he was dismissed from the label. Not long after, Shan signed with Cold Chillin' Records due to his relationship with Marl, and joined Marl's Juice Crew. MC Shan was one of the first hip hop artists to have a major record deal with the label.

He also found himself to be a key player in the noted hip-hop rivalry known as the Bridge Wars, between the Juice Crew and Boogie Down Productions. Controversy rose from his 1986 single "The Bridge". The A-side, one of the first songs to sample "Impeach The President" (after the earlier "Get Physical" by Steady B, also produced by Marley Marl) tells the story of how his crew got started in Queensbridge Houses, the public housing projects just north of the Queensboro Bridge. It also provided a template for other artists to use it as Queens representative anthem. The B-side is a mild-tempered diss-track aimed at LL Cool J for his song Rock The Bells which took the beat from "Marley Scratch", a promo by Marlon and Shawn from 1985 on NIA Records. Although at the time this practice was not allowed, KRS-One however responded with a parody of "The Bridge" named "South Bronx," and the Juice Crew sampled that song with a reply, "Kill That Noise." Slate magazine described the conflict: "In 1986, it was a beef that launched the star of KRS-One." A week later, Boogie Down Productions then released "The Bridge is Over," widely celebrated among hip-hop fans as the highest rated diss track. Somehow all the negative attention went to MC Shan. Years later, MC Shan remade "The Bridge" into "Da Bridge 2001", and strongly denied the bridge "was over", saying:

:The Bridge was never over

:We left our mark

:This jam is dedicated to you and your boys

:I brought my Queensbridge thugs to kill that noise

Shan's second album, Born To Be Wild, followed in 1988 and revealed Shan's b-boy persona, with production once again by Marley Marl.

! scope="row" | Down by Law

Released: August 8, 1987
Label: Cold Chillin'/Warner
Formats: CD, LP, Cassette, digital download, streaming

| 40

! scope="row" | Born to be Wild

Released: October 25, 1988
Label: Cold Chillin'/Warner
Format: CD, LP, Cassette, digital download

| 48

! scope="row" | Play it Again, Shan

Released: April 11, 1990
Label: Cold Chillin'/Warner
Format: CD, LP, Cassette, digital download

| 40

! scope="row" | Bars over Bullshit

Released: June 25, 2017
Label: Pioneered Dis Recordings
Format: LP, digital download, streaming

| —

| colspan="15" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Unreleased albums

You Love to Hear the Story (2007, Bungalo)

Compilation albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ List of compilation albums

! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:11em;" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:16em;" | Album details

! scope="row" | Battle for Rap Supremacy

Released: 1996
Label: Cold Chillin'
Formats: CD, LP, Cassette

! scope="row" | The Best Of Cold Chillin': MC Shan

Released: May 22, 2001
Label: Landspeed Records
Formats: CD, LP

! scope="row" | Q.B.O.G.: The Best of M.C. Shan

Released: March 20, 2012
Label: Cold Chillin', Traffic Entertainment Group
Formats: CD

Singles

As lead artist

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name

! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year

! scope="col" colspan="2"| Peak chart positions

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US R&B

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| US Rap

! scope="row"| "Feed the World"

|1985

|align="center"| —

|align="center" rowspan="8"

! scope="row"| "Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing"

|rowspan="3"|1986

|align="center"| —

|rowspan="5"|Down by Law

! scope="row"|"Beat Biter"

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"The Bridge"

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"Left Me Lonely" (featuring TJ Swan)

|rowspan="2"|1987

|align="center"| 71

! scope="row"|"Down by Law (Remix)"

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"I Pioneered This"

|rowspan="2"|1988

|align="center"| —

|rowspan="2"|Born to Be Wild

! scope="row"|"Juice Crew Law"

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"It Don't Mean a Thing"

|rowspan="2"|1990

|align="center"| —

|align="center"| 29

|rowspan="3"|Play it Again, Shan

! scope="row"|"Ain't It Good to You"

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"Time for Us to Defend Ourselves"

|1991

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"Hip Hop Roughneck/Watchin' My Style"

|rowspan="2"|1993

|align="center"| —

| rowspan="2"

! scope="row"|"Pee-Nile Reunion" (featuring Kool G Rap, Neek the Exotic, Diesel & Snow)

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"Kill That Noise"

|1995

|align="center"| —

|Battle for Rap Supremacy

! scope="row"|"Shan & The Queens Connect" (featuring Michael Myers)

| 1998

|align="center"| —

| rowspan="3"

! scope="row"|"My Swagga Make My Chain Swing"

| 2009

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"Back to the Streets"

| 2010

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"Let's Bring Hip-Hop Back"

| 2012

|align="center"| —

|rowspan="2"|Bars over Bullshit

! scope="row"|"Every Body Wanna Be a Big Star"

| 2013

|align="center"| —

! scope="row"|"Gritty"

| 2015

|align="center"| —

| rowspan="2"

! scope="row"|"Bounce"

| 2021

|align="center"| —

| colspan="5" style="text-align:center; font-size:75%;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country. "*" indicates a chart that did not exist at the time.

Singles

1985: "Marley Scratch"
1985: "Feed The World"
1986: "The Bridge"/"Beat Biter"
1986: "Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing"
1987: "Left Me Lonely"/"Kill That Noise"
1988: "A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste'
1988: "I Pioneered This"
1988: "Juice Crew Law" / "They Used To Do It In The Park"
1990: "I Ran The Game"
1990: "It Don't Mean A Thing"
1991: "Time For Us To Defend Ourselves"
1991: "Ain't It Good To You"
1993: "Hip Hop Roughneck"
1993: "Pee-Nile Reunion" / "Don't Call It A Comeback"
2001: "Da Bridge 2001" (w QB's Finest)
2012: "Let's Bring Hip Hop Back"
2013: "Everybody Wanna Be A Big Star Drive A Big Car"

Career

Unreleased albums

Compilation albums

Singles

As lead artist

Singles

References

Notes

Citations

External list