Stefan Burnett (MC Ride): Biography, Art, and Current Status

Stefan Burnett Quick Facts

Detail	Information
Full/Birth Name	Stefan Corbin Burnett
Stage Name	MC Ride (also “Ride”; earlier alias “Mxlplx”)
Occupation	Rapper, songwriter, vocalist, visual artist (painter)
Known For	Vocalist/frontman of Death Grips
Birthplace	Sacramento, California, U.S.
Date of Birth	Widely reported online as May 10, 1978 — not confirmed by high-reliability sources (see below)
Years Active	Late 1990s (as Mxlplx, with group Fyre); 2010–present (Death Grips)
Band	Death Grips (with Zach Hill and, until recently, Andy Morin)
Education	Studied visual arts at Hampton University; did not complete a degree there
Website	stefanburnett.com
Current Status	Recording a new Death Grips album as of late 2025

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Who Is Stefan Burnett?

Stefan Corbin Burnett is best known by his stage name MC Ride, an American rapper, songwriter, poet, and visual artist who fronts the experimental hip hop group Death Grips. He’s known for an intense, shouted vocal delivery and cryptic, often disturbing lyrics.

Outside music, he’s also a painter, and has had gallery work shown under his own name rather than his stage persona. He’s a famously private, low-profile figure who rarely gives interviews.

Burnett is sometimes confused online with other people sharing similar names — the search results for “MC Ride net worth” turn up pages that mix him up with completely different public figures. More on that in the net worth section below.

Stefan Burnett Early Life and Background

Burnett was born in Sacramento, California; much of his early life, including his exact birthdate, is not clearly documented in reliable sources. He studied visual arts at Hampton University in Virginia but dropped out to return to Sacramento and work with his brother, Isaac Burnett, who performs as Swank Daddy.

Before Death Grips, Burnett performed under the alias Mxlplx in a Sacramento hip hop trio called Fyre, alongside his brother and rapper Young G; the group ended after his brother married. During that period he also worked at Paesano’s Midtown and Pushkin’s Bakery in Sacramento while pursuing painting.

Age and Date of Birth — What’s Actually Confirmed

Evidence check: Multiple lower-tier bio sites, fan wikis, and AI-generated pages state Burnett was born May 10, 1978. But Wikipedia — generally the most carefully sourced tier-3 reference available for him — explicitly notes his birthdate is not clearly established. No primary source (an official statement, a verified interview, a government record) confirming a specific date turned up in this research.

Claim	Status
Born in Sacramento, California	Confirmed / widely corroborated
Born May 10, 1978	Reported repeatedly online, but not traceable to a primary source — treat as unconfirmed
Exact current age	Cannot be responsibly stated given the above

Stefan Burnett Career: Death Grips

Burnett began performing under the alias Mxlplx in the late 1990s, then formed Death Grips in 2010 with drummer Zach Hill and keyboardist/engineer Andy Morin. Though Burnett is the group’s vocalist and public face, Hill has been described as the project’s main creative driving force.

Death Grips built a cult following for a sound mixing industrial noise, punk, and hip hop, and for erratic public behavior — including leaking their own album art and canceling shows mid-set.

Career highlights:

Breakout mixtape Exmilitary (2011), which built a large online following, notably through 4chan’s /mu/ community
Studio albums The Money Store and No Love Deep Web (2012)
A 2014 announcement that the band had broken up, posted alongside confirmation that their double album The Powers That B would still be released
A surprise reunion in 2016 with the album Bottomless Pit
2018’s Year of the Snitch, their most recent studio album until the 2025 announcement below
Their most recent live performance was at Austin City Limits in 2023

Stefan Burnett’s Art Career

Painting is a significant, separate part of Burnett’s public work. In February 2016, Burnett shared a personal website featuring acrylic paintings, described as chilly, monochrome portrait work.

In January 2017 he held his first solo exhibition, “Solo Exhibition,” at Slow Culture gallery in LA’s Highland Park neighborhood, running January 7–28. The paintings were done in a palette of deep blue, gray, and black, with recurring motifs like a skull in a chalice, dismembered doll imagery, and figures that appear hanged.

Year	Art Milestone
2016	Personal painting website launched, sharing acrylic works
Jan 2017	“Solo Exhibition” — first solo gallery show, Slow Culture, Los Angeles

A widely circulated photo of Burnett painting, with a cat on his shoulder and his face obscured by a hoodie, became something of a cult image among fans.

Stefan BurnettNet Worth — No Reliable Figure Exists

This is a case where the honest answer matters more than a number. A search for “MC Ride net worth” surfaces wildly inconsistent, low-quality content-farm pages: one claims $7 million, another claims $1.5 million, another claims $50 million with a private jet and a Los Angeles/Texas real-estate portfolio, and others confuse him outright with unrelated people (a financial short-seller, a BROCKHAMPTON-adjacent artist, a different musician entirely).

None of these figures trace back to a verifiable financial disclosure, and no reputable financial or entertainment-industry outlet has published a sourced net-worth estimate for Burnett. The responsible answer is that no reliable public net worth figure exists for Stefan Burnett. His income is understood to come primarily from Death Grips’ recordings, touring, and merchandise, plus his art sales, but no specific dollar figures are publicly documented.

Stefan Burnett Tattoos and Physical Details

Burnett has visible tattoos, but there’s no reliably documented, sourced breakdown of their meaning, count, or dates — most “tattoo guide” content about him online is speculative. Similarly, no verified height figure is available from a credible source. This article won’t repeat unverified numbers just to fill a table.

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Stefan Burnett Current Status (2025–2026)

This is the most solid, recent, well-sourced part of Burnett’s public timeline:

Earlier in 2025, a private message reportedly from Andy Morin’s account leaked, suggesting the group was over; Burnett and Hill responded publicly in April 2025 saying they “remain active as Death Grips,” a statement signed only by the two of them.
On November 5, 2025, Hill and Burnett posted studio photos to Instagram confirming that writing and recording on a new Death Grips album was underway.
Andy Morin’s name was notably absent from both 2025 statements, and there has been no official confirmation of whether he remains in the band.

Evidence check: Confirmed — new album in progress as of November 2025, per the band’s own Instagram statement. Unconfirmed — Andy Morin’s current status with the group; release date or title of the new album.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Stefan Burnett’s real name MC Ride?

No. MC Ride is a stage name; his birth name is Stefan Corbin Burnett.

How old is Stefan Burnett?

His exact age isn’t reliably confirmed. A birth date of May 10, 1978 circulates widely online, but Wikipedia and other higher-reliability sources note his birthdate isn’t clearly established.

What band is Stefan Burnett in?

He’s the vocalist of Death Grips, the experimental hip hop group he formed in 2010 with Zach Hill and Andy Morin.

Is Stefan Burnett a painter?

Yes. He’s a visual artist who had his first solo gallery exhibition in January 2017 at Slow Culture in Los Angeles.

What is Stefan Burnett’s net worth?

There’s no reliable, sourced net worth figure available. Widely circulated online estimates contradict each other and aren’t traceable to verified financial data.