Balen Shah

Balendra Shah is a Nepalese rapper, musician, structural engineer, and politician better known as Balen Shah or just Balen. He is now the 15th mayor of Kathmandu, Nepal's main city. He also served as a judge on Image Channel's hip-hop reality show Nephopko Shreepech.^[1]

Mayor Balendra Shah
बालेन्द्र शाह
15th Mayor of Kathmandu
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 May 2022
Deputy	Sunita Dangol
Preceded by	Bidya Sundar Shakya
Personal details
Born	(1990-04-27) 27 April 1990 (age 35) Naradevi-18, Kathmandu, Nepal
Political party	Independent
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Spouse(s)	Sabina Kafle ​ (m. 2018)​
Mother	Dhruv Devi Shah
Father	Ram Narayan Shah
Alma mater	VTU (M.Tech.)
Profession	Rapper structural engineer politician
Musical career
Origin	Sinamangal–9, Kathmandu, Nepal
Genres	Hip hop Nephop Political rap
Years active	2012–present
Labels	Independent
Website	balenformayor.com

Since the early 2010s, Shah has been a popular personality in Nepalese hip-hop. Shah ran as an independent in the 2022 local elections, beating Nepali Congress candidate Sirjana Singh and CPN (UML) candidate Keshav Sthapit.^[2][3]