French-born Sevana Tchakerian (ex-member of Parisian alt-folk group Collectif Medz Bazaar) and Armenian-born Gor Tadevosyan comprise JINJ, a new boundary-pushing band that mixes French rap, Armenian folk, trap and hip hop to create twisting inter-continental rhythms that you can feel in your bones.
Against the backdrop of a devastating war, in the sleepy post-industrial city of Vanadzor, Armenia, this electrifying duo began making music together as an emotional release from the pain of death and destruction. The word JINJ means serene in Armenian, and it underscores the resilience that Sevana and Gor saw radiating from their community in the face of impending cultural erasure. The band’s compositions exude a hunger to build something new, to reconstruct a future for Armenia that is honest and able, dipped in fragments of the past while looking forward.
Indeed, JINJ’s music is nothing less than a rhythmic manifestation of the diversity of the Armenian landscape and culture: from majestic green mountains to the pulsing beat of the city, from Komitas soundscapes to underground rap, from the simplicity of the villages to vodka shots in the clubs. And their unforgettable video for the song “Khosa Khosa” brilliantly references the work of Soviet Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov (“The Color of Pomegranates”). With each of their pieces displaying such limitless melodic imagination and deep-rooted lyrical skills, Tchakerian and Tadevosyan are making a bold statement – JINJ is here to stay!