Lyrical Son

Lyrical Son is a rapper and songwriter from Kosovo, born Festim Arifi on 28 January 1984 in Pristina, then part of Yugoslavia, into an ethnic Albanian family. He was born and raised in Pristina, which is why he is on Muzika-Balkan under Kosovo, and his career has been built there: the label he co-founded and his biggest concerts are in the city. No source we found says outright where he lives today.

He started rapping in high school and took music seriously after the Kosovo War of 1999. The stage name goes back to elementary school, when his English teacher wrote it in his notebook. By the 2000s he was one of the known names of Albanian-language hip hop, and his debut solo album Recept came out on 19 October 2008 on an independent label, with "Po pritoj" as its best-known track and "Sexy Linda" as a single.

In 2011 he and MC Kresha founded the label P.I.N.T (Për Inati T'njoni Tjetrit) together with Strike Beatz, K-Master and Onufër Berisha, and it grew into one of the leading labels of Albanian hip hop. The two rappers have made most of their records as a pair: Për Inati T'njoni Tjetrit (2011), Rapsodët n'Rap t'Sotit (2016), which reached number 4 in Switzerland, United State Of Albania (2019, with other P.I.N.T artists) and Muzikë e Alltisë (2022). His second solo album, Zimasamshevy, came out on 13 August 2013, and that album is the playlist here.

Several of their songs went to number 1 in Albania: "Hip Hop" with Ledri Vula, "Menemadhe" (2018) and "Pasite" with Tayna (2019), and as a guest he topped the chart again with Kida on "Deja Vu" (2019). "Stuhi mbi oqean", with MC Kresha and Elvana Gjata, reached number 3 in 2022.

Lyrical Son was booked for the first Sunny Hill Festival in Pristina in 2018 and came back in 2019. In July 2025 he and MC Kresha played Red Bull Symphonic in Pristina, their songs rearranged for a full symphony orchestra. He married Gresa Krasniqi in Pristina in 2014.