At just 18 years old, Elgin, Illinois native Stefan Misiaszek, better known as st3fan, has released four albums in 2026, including two rap projects, an indie album, and a collaborative project. Now a freshman at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), he’s continuing to develop his sound while connecting with other artists and creatives. Stefan’s interest in music started early. Growing up, he listened to everything from pop and rock to R&B and rap through his mother’s iTunes library. By middle school, friends had introduced him to artists like Juice WRLD, XXXTentacion, and Lil Yachty, who inspired him to begin recording his own music in seventh grade.
Today, Lil Yachty and Tyler, The Creator remain his biggest influences, particularly because of their approaches to music and visual storytelling. “Yachty and Tyler present themselves in such a unique way both sonically and visually,” Stefan explained.
Beyond their music, he follows their creative projects, collaborations, and business ventures, hoping to build a similarly versatile career. Despite releasing four albums this year, Stefan acknowledges that reaching new audiences remains one of his biggest challenges. He’s struggled with social media promotion, particularly finding creative ways to market his music without becoming repetitive. However, attending UIUC has introduced him to a community of motivated artists and creatives who have encouraged him to approach things differently.
Moving forward, Stefan plans to focus on more elaborate album rollouts, stronger visual content, live performances, and collaborations with other musicians and filmmakers. In five years, he hopes to still be consistently releasing music while expanding the creative direction behind each project.
His advice to other emerging artists is straightforward: “If you love whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. I’ve been making music for the past six years and I still love the creative process that goes behind each song, project, video, and post. Stay motivated and continue to make the art you love. It pays off.” With four projects released in 2026 and a growing creative network at UIUC, st3fan is focused on building his audience while continuing to experiment with his sound.
Follow st3fan on Instagram: @st3fanmusic