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Photo: Shan Shi

Both a popstar and your best friend, INJI makes music that elicits the kind of safety you only feel in the girl’s bathroom at the club. Following her successful touring stint around the US and UK, the viral songstress is back with yet another hit.

Taking a sonic risk that immediately pays off, “BELLYDANCING” incorporates hints of traditional Mexican and Middle Eastern music, integrating both cultures with the utmost reverence. The Turkish singer shared her intentionality with the song via Instagram, stating, “This silly little song means A LOT to me. Firstly, I’m so happy to have found a way to bring my culture from Türkiye into dance music—dance in Türkiye, especially this kind, has such a profoundly uniting effect on everyone and it’s closely related to some of my best childhood memories. Secondly, it feels so fun to celebrate this Middle Eastern form of dance, alongside a Mexican form of music, and I’ve loved playing around with that fusion.” While many would shy away from dancing at the intersection of these cultures, INJI embraces the vibrancy of their polarities and makes something liberating.

Sharing that she “created a core memory filming this music video with my best friends in my apartment,” the accompanying visual encapsulates the contagious and magnetic energy of the single perfectly. Featuring young girls enamored by quesadillas and drenched in their youth, INJI continues to prove there’s no major production or big budget necessary to produce something significant.

INJI is single-handedly keeping the club scene alive and thriving, and she’s doing so effortlessly. This isn’t by mistake, as the young artist went on to say, “The mission of my music is just to make you a little happier, a little smilier than 3 minutes prior. Especially in trying times like this, I truly hope that this song fills you with a rush of happiness, energy, and unity among different cultures.” In times of great strife and hopelessness, it’s musicians like INJI that keep unconditional joy alive. Her music asks nothing of you but surrender, comfortable sweats, and maybe even a shot of tequila.

Watch the "BELLYDANCING" video below: