Josman, whose real name is José Nzengo, born October 28, 1992, in Vierzon, Cher, is a French rapper and producer.
Released in 2016, the music video for "Dans le vide", which has accumulated over 12 million views on YouTube, opened him up to a wider audience and marked a turning point in his career.
Born to Congolese and Angolan parents, Josman grew up in Vierzon and discovered rap and hip-hop culture thanks to his sister, with whom he shared an interest in artists like Lil Wayne, Booba, and Ol Kainry, while also taking an interest in R&B, from Alicia Keys to Usher. He grew up alongside his passion for rap and began recording in his bedroom over instrumentals he produced himself. In high school, during his senior year, Josman met Marius Gonzalez, then a freshman, who would go on to direct his music videos. Around that time, Marius Gonzalez discovered videography while Josman was posting his tracks on his Skyblog.
After getting his high school diploma, Josman moved to Aubervilliers, in the suburbs of Paris, where he discovered recording studios and open mics. He threw himself into them intensely after dropping out of his applied foreign languages degree program for an engineering training program, where he met Eazy Dew, a beatmaker with whom he regularly collaborates. In 2013, he became the youngest rapper to win one of the most prestigious rap freestyle competitions: End Of The Weak, followed by Ready Or Not in 2015. These various victories opened the doors to major media outlets. He was selected to participate in the show MasterClasse on France 4 and impressed Orelsan, who said of him: "He is too good, there are rhymes, assonances, flow, and it's a different, more positive vision of adolescence."
