14 billion combined YouTube views in a few months. 673 Million monthly (close to twice Taylor Swift’s) listeners on YouTube Music. 2.7 million shorts using one of his songs, 1.2 million shorts using another. 1.7 million TikToks. 455M+ Spotify streams, 10M+ monthly listeners on Spotify. The name of the artist: MC Staff. Age: 18 years old. Nationality: Brazilian. Release date of the two songs: April 2025 and May 2025. Location of the streams: majorly outside Brazil.
Here is the story:
Patrick Barbosa, known as MC Staff, was born and raised in the periphery of Guarujá, State of Sāo Paulo, Brazil. While tourists strolled the soft sands in search of rest, as a little child from a very modest family, Patrick was selling lottery tickets along the boardwalk, trekking more than 25 kilometers from the quebrada to the sea, clutching hope in his small hands.
Each ticket sold wasn’t just a coin earned; it was a heartbeat of perseverance, a whisper of dignity. Yet, amid hardship, the periphery gave him a priceless gift: rhythm. The batidão pulsing through narrow alleys became his escape, his language. Where others saw pain, he discovered pulse; where they heard noise, he found melody.
Over the years, he became MC Staff, singer, producer, DJ, and storyteller of the asphalt, patiently crafting hundreds of songs, music and lyrics.
In 2025, at only 18 years old, he became the epicenter of the Brazilian Phonk Movement. His music fans organically turned YouTube Shorts into a global stage, where his sounds and his words became the soundtrack for millions of dance and lifestyle videos. Dia Delicia and Mente Ma, his global hits dropped in april and may 2025.
The Phonk movement invented new social marketing rules, betting on digital meritocracy and speed, with an undeniable social proof for Staff: two worldwide hits, over 14 billion views in less than 30 days, over 5 million Shorts and TikToks celebrating his music, 10 million Spotify listeners, and 673 million on YouTube Music.
MC Staff’s story is about a kid’s unlimited passion for music, his resilience and GenZ’s superpower to make a trend global without the need of traditional media networks.