LiveLarge

Inji-nious: Inji’s story is a fascinating one. Born Inci Guran in Turkey, Inji spent time in the UK and US, before studying finance. She recently graduated with that degree, and pretty much figured finance would set her on her career path. But then shit went down. 

After playing with friends and making music in her bedroom for shits and giggles, then posting songs online, people started paying attention. Boy, did they! Her song “Gaslight” went viral on TikTok, earning her over 6 billion views.

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Inji (Brett Callwood)

She’s now being heralded as a “gen-z artist for the gen-z generation.” (gen-z, remember, being born somewhere between 1997 and 2012, so aged 11 to 26-ish). The key to that honor is that her pop songs are generally relatable; hopelessly catchy, eminently danceable, and with lyrics that make her audience feel like she’s singing very personally to them. That’s not make-believe either — at certain points, she tells her audience that she’s singing very personally to them.

Inji’s show at the Echo on Wednesday evening was very much a party. Her debut EP LFG dropped at the end of last week, and she was clearly in the mood to celebrate. So all of the previously released singles are on the EP, and they all got an airing in Echo Park: “Bored,” “All I Wanna Do,” “The One” and of course “Gaslight.”

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(Brett Callwood)

The latter she initially dedicated to an ex boyfriend who, she said, tore her to shreds. But fuck him — she then passed the mic around the crowd and allowed her fans to tell their own “shitty exes” stories, before dedicating “Gaslight” to those people. It’s a rare level of crowd participation that made everyone feel included because everyone has a story like those (maybe not exactly like those — one person said that she had loaned her boyfriend $10 grand and he blew it all).

Ultimately, Inji’s current success derives from the fact that her fans feel like she’s one of them. Which is sorta by design, but also because it’s simply true. She’s a recent graduate who enjoys making music and, to her surprise as much as anyone else’s, has seen it blow up online. The fact that the music is tons of fun is key – she’s no mere influencer. But Inji works as an artist because it feels like her joy is her fans’ shared joy.

Earlier, Latina artist Judith warmed the Echo up nicely with a pop set that saw her switch between English and Spanish language songs seamlessly. Charismatic and sweet-voiced, she’s worth keeping an eye on.

The future, it would appear, is bright.

Inji-nious: Visit Inji on Instagram for more info.

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Judith (Brett Callwood)

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Inji (Brett Callwood)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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