Behind the Sound: Janset
Discover Janset: the genre-bending artist giving grime, UK garage, and traditional Turkish instrumentation the chance to shake hands.
Epidemic Sound is the world’s leading soundtracking platform because of our artists. Together, we help everyone from new creators to iconic brands find their voice.
Today, we’re heading into the 11th edition of Behind the Sound, in which we celebrate the musicians taking Epidemic Sound to the next level. This month, it’s MC and rapper, Janset.
Since finding her voice in the UK dubstep scene as one half of Stinkahbell, she’s recorded with the Hip Hop Orchestra at Maida Vale Studios, collaborated with Red Bull Records, and worked with artists like Balkan Beat Box, P Money, and Aga B.
Inspired by her Turkish-Circassian upbringing in North London, Janset lays bilingual bars over a gritty fusion of alternative hip-hop, UK garage, grime, drill, traditional Turkish instrumentation, and more. With over half a billion streams on YouTube alone, she’s made an indelible stamp on her scene.
And that’s the kind of artist Epidemic Sound works with. Trailblazers, genre benders, mavericks — the ones who dare to lead down the path least trodden.
Wherever you fit, from solo creator to international brand, Janset and Epidemic Sound can take your content or production to the next level.
We sat down with Janset to discuss her Turkish-Circassian roots, dancing, and “ordered chaos.”
How do you approach bilingual writing? Do ideas come to you in English and Turkish at the same time, or does one spark the other?
Janset: “Bilingual writing has been very fun — something I didn’t know I could do for years. I usually think, write, and dream in English, but then Turkish words and expressions will spring to my mind and interject. I don’t think I ever try to merge the worlds. They end up merging naturally.”
Being raised in North London with Turkish-Circassian roots, where do you feel your identity shows up most in your music?
J: “It shows up everywhere, for sure. In the way I write, the way I pronounce the words, and what I write about.”
What’s one unexpected sound or instrument that’s shaped your music recently?
J: “The harp. I’ve been wanting to do a rap song with a harpist for a long time, and it’s been on my mind a lot recently.”
What does your ideal studio setup look like, and do you have a go-to creative ritual?
J: “Hahaha, ordered chaos with a lot of neon lights and ambiance. I like to journal and get random stuff out of my mind before I record, gig, or do anything music-related where I wanna let go, connect, or be in the zone.”
Is there one track that pushed you the furthest outside your comfort zone?
J: “My favorite, most out-there track I’ve done is probably Angles, from the Disruptive album. It’s written with one of my fave producers ever, Jack Elphick.”
What’s something people would be surprised to learn inspires your music?
J: “Authors, philosophers, and diarists — May Sarton’s diaries are real, raw, and very reflective. Reading and being in nature really inspires my music.”
If you weren’t making music, what would your creative outlet be?
J: “Dancing and painting, for sure. I used to dance when I was younger and performed at Sadler’s Wells [a London performing arts venue] in the early 2000s.
“In the last six years or so, I’ve started painting — it’s allowed me to be even more expressive in ways I’ve never imagined. I used to feel like I was ‘cheating’ if I allowed myself to paint, but I was wrong.”
Janset’s music is available on all major streaming platforms.
Listen to Janset’s Epidemic Sound discography below.
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