Ailing from Colmar, Sonbest is an intriguing rapper. More overlooked than hidden from view, the rapper offers here a magnificent EP to follow 2018’s Immersion and a series of freestyles which helped put him on the map of French underground rap. The leap between these and this new offering is immense as Lotus hits the mark, in terms of its heightened sensitivity and brilliant expression. On Agonie, he takes stock of his regrets on top of a highly organic production centred around sharp piano and displays a sense of cynicism on a more electronic and aggressive instrumental on XO. Two tracks which carry this seven-track project of fascinating introspection and homogeneity. If we had to put him into category, we would say he’s somewhere between Dinos and Laylow, without the former’s excessive prose and the latter’s preference for concept albums. Two weighty references which prove Sonbest as a more than promising rapper. © Brce Miclet/Qobuz