“Starbenders are a rock-n-roll dream come true for every hard luck dreamer occupying this third stone from the sun. Singer/songwriter Kimi Shelter is the love child Johnny Thunders and Joan Jett should have had, raised with an impeccable education from Blondie Elementary School, Def Leppard High, Bowie College, and a Ph.D. from Siouxie Sioux University in Fuck All Y’all. Aaron Lecesne brings ripping bass lines, vivid musicality, fashionista chic, and lightning rod stage energy. Kriss Tokaji is the literal embodiment of a Guitar Adonis whose fretboard mastery easily places him at the pinnacle of today’s young guns, a legend in the making. Enter Qi Wei, a trailblazing force from China, whose kinetic rhythms and electric stage presence have made her the heartbeat of this next era. Starbenders have toured the world with everyone from Alice In Chains to Palaye Royale, destroying the entire house every time. They’ve issued twenty-seven releases in ten years – singles, EPs, and LPs, including their 2020 full-length, Love Potions, for Sumerian Records and the 2023 followup, Take Back The Night.” ~ written by William DuVall (Alice In Chains)

Who Is Mega Ran?
“Mega Ran is Your New Favorite.”
— Noisey
“When it comes to marrying video games and hip-hop…no one does it quite like Mega Ran.”
— HipHopDX
“One of the most prolific and innovative rappers of the 21st Century”
— Phoenix New Times
“Ran writes songs that are easy to embrace, thanks to his unrelenting charm”
— Bandcamp

Random, aka Mega Ran, aka RandomBeats… Teacher, Rapper, Hero. DJ, Author…Guinness World Record Holder!

When LA Weekly said that Ran’s “fanbase and niche audiences are growing at a rate not seen since Tech N9ne,” they meant it. A former middle school teacher, Mega Ran (formerly Random) blends education, hip-hop and gaming in amazing new ways, penetrating the farthest reaches of the galaxy with his unique rhyme style and electric performances.

Ran cut his teeth in the city of Philadelphia as a moonlighting emcee and producer, performing, freestyle rapping, producing and later engineering at a studio. After relocating to Phoenix, competing in the Scribble Jam emcee battle championships and taking an early exit, Ran almost quit before he was even started, when a creative lightning bolt struck, and a fire was lit.

Video games, comic books and pop culture, all such huge factors in Ran’s upbringing, would begin to seep their way into his musical output, and the results were stunning.

In 2007 the album “Mega Ran” was officially licensed by Capcom, making it the first time an indie rapper had partnered with a AAA game developer. Ran followed that up in 2009 with “Splash Woman,” an instant smash in nerdy circles. The next year would see Mega Ran team with K-Murdock to release the classic album “Forever Famicom.”

In 2011 Mega Ran released “Black Materia,” based on the hit game “Final Fantasy VII” and the results were stunning; the album went viral and propelled Ran to leave his teaching job and create music on a full-time basis.

Since then, world tours, several Billboard charting releases, partnerships with major game studios and even an appearance at a sold-out Madison Square Garden have all been added to Mega Ran’s already padded resume.

In 2021 Ran added “author” to his long list of titles when he released “Dream Master,” a memoir chronicling his quest from the stoops of Philadelphia to his receipt of a Guinness World Record.
Mega Ran has come a long way from his teenage days of freestyle rapping with friends, Philadelphia open mics and producing beats on a Playstation one with MTV Music Generator. He worked in studios, producing artists from the Philly street scene whose violent lyrics he couldn’t connect with. He dropped his first album, The Call (2006), under the name Random Beats.

He moved to Phoenix and dug back into his video game roots, particularly Mega Man by Capcom, who’s soundtrack lived inside his head. He released Mega Ran (2007) with all beats produced from Mega Man games, and it was a hit. Capcom found the record and gave him a platform, and was instrumental in him being the first rapper to play a Comic Con. He became so associated with the record that he changed his name to Mega Ran. He shifted the musical content he was creating primarily to gaming, which led to his Guiness Book of World Records entry for most songs that reference a video game.

Releases like Mega Ran 9 (2009), Forever Famicom (2010) and his Final Fantasy 7 record Black Materia (2011) brought press attention for combining hip hop and gaming. He quit his job and cut his teeth playing mostly sold-out shows on a 50-date tour with MC Chris at the height of his nerdcore fame. He released an abundance of singles and records including RNDM (2015) featuring Open Mike Eagle and Kool Keith, wrestling heavy albums Mat Mania (2016), Mat Mania: The Revenge (2017) & Wrestling is Real, People are Fake (2023) which lead to WWE song placements and a Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) live performance where he actually wrestled. Live ‘95 (2021) focused on his love of ‘90s basketball and features Del the Funky Homosapien.

There’s a mountain of releases and accomplishments in addition to these. Over the pandemic Mega Ran lost a parent and began to reevaluate his life. He sat down and wrote his book Dream Master: A Memoir: From The Stoop to the Stage To The Stars (2020), chronicling his rise from obscurity to Guinness World Record holder.


Today, Mega Ran is no longer a teacher by title, but maintains a rigorous touring and recording schedule, traveling the world playing rap shows, DJing and striving to entertain and educate at the same time.

Now that’s Random.