Rinbossanova is a DJ based here in the Lansing area. They’re currently making major strides towards wider fame and acclaim, the most notable of which being their upcoming show in Detroit where they will be opening for Ninajirachi, an award-winning Australian electronic DJ and producer.
Rin has loved electronic music for years. They recalled how their high school best friend introduced them to the genre in their freshman year.
“When I was 14, the Vroom Vroom EP came out… and he was like, this EP just dropped. You have to check it out,” said Rin. The Charli XCX EP, featuring production from hyperpop pioneer SOPHIE, came out in 2016 and was Rin’s gateway into the genre. “I was like, ‘oh my god, this is the best thing I’ve ever heard.’”
Along with their passion for electronic music, Rin has carried their love for fashion through the years. Since they were 16, Rin has been working with local bands and artists as a merch designer and vendor. They studied fashion at MSU, where they connected with other vendors and artists in the local scene. It was through one of these connections that they got their first DJing gig in March of 2024.
“I met this one vendor who also happened to put on events,” said Rin. There was an opening after another DJ had canceled, and the vendor asked Rin to fill in. “I thought: I could just DJ. I know electronic music, and I was just like, let me put on Charli and Sophie.”
After their first set, Rin started throwing parties and playing more shows. They were booked to play at their first co-op house in April. They started to practice DJing more, learning from another local DJ who showed them the ropes, and upgraded their hardware to suit their new skillset as well as the bigger shows they were playing. Throughout the learning process, they began to develop their own unique style.
“At the start, I knew that I wanted to play hyperpop,” Rin said. “I feel like hyperpop is such a word that people go back and forth on, but at that time it was super bubbly pop. It was like, super high energy… I didn’t care what my BPM was.”
Although Rin was getting booked for shows, they realized that the specific hyperpop style their shows featured was creating barriers for them in the scene.
“I noticed that there was this kind of wall put up because I was only playing that stuff, where it was like ‘oh, you wouldn’t fit the bill for this,’ or ‘you have to play past 12 a.m.,’” Rin said. They quickly realized they’d need to branch out into different genres. “I was on a train to Chicago, and umru and KAVARI had dropped a back-to-back set on that day… I was like, okay, that’s what I want to do.” Drawing from that inspiration, they started experimenting with mixing different genres like trap and UK garage.
A moment Rin considers a milestone in their career is when they played at The Avenue bar in Lansing for the first time on Oct. 4, 2024. That performance made Rin begin to view DJing more seriously.
“That was kind of like the moment where it was like, okay, this is actually something else,” said Rin. Other major sets they’ve played have included festivals like Breakaway in Grand Rapids in Aug. 2025 and South by Southwest in Austin, Texas in Mar. 2025. They recall feeling especially welcomed and supported by Ganja Girl, the head DJ and organizer of Femtronica, a Detroit festival highlighting fem and queer artists.
“There are moments where… DJs in general are like, ‘your music’s too weird,’ or ‘people need to be drunk enough to hear it,’” Rin said. Ganja Girl, along with another DJ named Grapefruit Jacuzzi, welcomed Rin and invited them to DJ together, allowing all of them to perform a set with no restrictions on their personal styles. This type of collaboration with artists of different genres is an element of DJing Rin loves and hopes to continue to explore. “For them to be like, ‘hey, do you want to do a back-to-back with us?’ was a crazy step-up moment for sure… I was like, okay, this is something that I really want to keep doing.”
Rin places great emphasis on the support of the local community helping them progress forward. They highlight how grateful they are for the help of their partner, friends, photographers, people who help organize their sets, and other members of the DIY community. They believe supporting other artists and their right to respect and fair treatment is vital.
“I’ve started understanding what it means to stand up for yourself, even if it’s, like, inconvenient for a venue,” Rin said. “Just having the community back me on that was pretty important… that also just gave me more confidence just advocating for a safer space for bands.”
More specifically, Rin stated how important the queer community is to them and their career as a DJ.
“Any show that I’ve ever played with other queer people has just been phenomenal,” Rin said. They stated how important it is to remember the roots of the electronic music community. “Electronica was built off of queer underground raves. So I think keeping that community in shows is super important… Just keep supporting queer artists.”
All of this support Rin has received throughout their career, along with the dedication and work they’ve put in, has led them to be booked for what they consider a “dream set:” opening for Ninajirachi. The set is on Feb. 6 at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in Detroit, having undergone two venue upgrades to accommodate Ninajirachi’s rapid audience growth since the tour’s initial announcement. Rin is an avid lover of Ninajirachi’s music.
“I had been playing her music at a ton of events, and every time I’d play her, I’d post a video or post my board,” Rin said. They had been reaching out to multiple venues and artists looking for gigs, and were eventually selected to open in Detroit. “When I first got the email back, I cried, I think for like, two days… I was like, ‘Oh my god, things are different. Something has shifted in my brain.’”
“I’m so bad at preparing for sets. This is definitely one of my flaws… I don’t prepare very much, if at all,” said Rin. “For this one, I have been working on it for two weeks now.” They’re focusing on stage presence and overcoming the anxiety that comes with playing a show this big. The biggest show they’ve played so far was a sold-out set at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids, a venue with a capacity of 450. The Royal Oak’s capacity is 1700.
“I have horrible stage fright,” said Rin. “Before every single show…I think it’ll be fun though. I’m really, really excited.”
Opening for Ninajirachi is a major step forward for Rin, but it’s by no means the final step. They plan to continue honing their skills, working on visual components for sets, and, of course, performing here in Lansing and beyond.
