The Wharton student to world–tour artist pipeline may not be large, but for recent Penn Alum Inci Gürün (W ‘23), better known under her stage name “INJI,” following her passion is paying off.
In 2022, the then–Penn student released a 15–second clip on TikTok of a song she was working on for fun, and it blew up overnight, flooding music charts, TikTok pages, and Instagram feeds around the world. Her overnight sensation “GASLIGHT” was just the beginning—her songs “BELLYDANCING” and “UNTZ UNTZ,” both followed in 2023 and have over 29 million and 12 million Spotify streams respectively. The reason for her sudden success is simple: her approach to making music is to have fun. Her musical message of being carefree and letting loose more comes through loud and clear in her latest EP, WE GOOD.
INJI describes her new five–song EP on her Instagram as “delusionally optimistic music to cope with life.” On WE GOOD, Gürün unapologetically forges a pathway for herself in the male–dominated genre of house and dance music, creating room for songs that play with vibrant, girly, and sexual energies.
In “NICE TO MEET YA,” featuring Flyana Boss, INJI flips the role of the “international playboy” and paints herself as the international playgirl, having one–night stands in a new city every night. Gürün creates a melting pot of dance music from around the world in this song, with hypnotizingly smooth lyrics in Spanish and Turkish, as well as a beat that intertwines pop and bossa nova. The kinetic song makes you feel alive and full of endless energy, as if you are traveling from club to club on the bustling streets of Dubai, London, Chicago, Istanbul, and Cape Town alongside the artist, living young and carefree from city to city. The beat is fresh, fun, and frisky—a perfect first song to introduce the rest of the EP.
In “GIRLZ,” INJI reiterates her “I could care less” attitude about guys and expresses the freeing youthfulness of living carefree with your girlfriends in your twenties with nothing (and no guy) to hold you back. Both “GIRLZ” and “SEXY 4EVER” share connections to the songs of Gen–Z’s childhood: the rhythm of “GIRLZ” echos Rihanna’s “Shut Up And Drive,” while “SEXY 4EVER” resembles Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.” INJI’s attitude of not taking life seriously is most present in her song “SEXY 4EVER”—everything from the title to the lyrics to the beat is drenched in themes of staying wild and spunky no matter your age. Gürün worked alongside dance music legend Nile Rodgers, who produced and sang some of the most monumental disco songs from the late 70s to now. Rodgers created songs such as “Le Freak” with his band CHIC and collaborated with artists including Daft Punk, David Bowie, and now the Wharton graduate herself. The song’s intro and the prominent bass throughout transforms it into a collage of retro disco beats that plays with modern lyrics. The result is an appealing entanglement of pop music that travels through decades.
The vivacity and vibrancy that bumps through each of the songs in INJI’s most recent EP, as well as her past music, can be felt and experienced firsthand—INJI’s North American tour, “Tour You Can Scream Along To,” began this September, which will be followed with a UK & Europe tour in October. The energy she brings to her songs is as strong as the energy she brings to the stage: strobe lights pulse on sweaty crowds as INJI dances alongside her background dancers, changing outfits throughout the show, from sexy business–style short dresses and Moschino moon boots to capri cargo pants and fire–engine red Nike dunks.
As a former Penn student, INJI knows her audience of young people hungry for new electro–pop music well, and she delivers them 13 minutes and 30 seconds of electrifying music that experiments with a wide range of genres, providing an innovative take on dance–pop. The EP was released just in time for the beginning of the school year, and is certain to set the tempo for workouts at Pottruck, dances with friends at parties, and the daily routines of students rushing down Locust Walk to their next class.
