Inja

Before he recorded his debut album, British MC and poet Inja had a decade-plus career under his belt, a career that had encompassed spoken word performances, poetry slams, creative writing workshops, and MC’ing over a variety of styles including hip-hop, jungle, reggae, and drum’n’bass — and he was also an accomplished chef. Born Gareth Hue in the London commuter town of Luton, he grew up listening to his parents’ reggae collection. As a teen, he moved to the wealthier, predominantly white town of Cambridge, where he faced racism and bullying due to his dyslexia. He escaped into poetry, beginning a lifelong love affair with the form, and began to write his own verses; then he discovered drum’n’bass and was inspired by the uniquely British sound of MCs like Bassman, GQ, and Stevie Hyper D. He began his career with seminal U.K. hip-hop crews Delegates of Culture and Task Force and his old schoolfriend Skuff, crafting an intense, lyrical, conscious flow that made him an in-demand collaborator for the likes of DJs Die and Vadim and led to a parallel career as a slam poet and educator. He regularly hosted the DMC World Championship and appeared at several Hospital Records events, leading to his friendship with the label crew and collaborations on a number of singles by the likes of Serum and Whiney. He eventually signed to the label, becoming the first lyricist to do so; his debut album, Blank Pages, dropped in 2018. ~ John D. Buchanan