Justerini Sandoval, AKA RINI, is an up and coming RnB and soul artist from south east Melbourne. His sound has been influenced by Frank Ocean, Daniel Caesar, Kehlani, Bryson Tiller, and The Weeknd.

Not much is known about Sandoval’s personal life however, what we do know is that he started his own production of  music in 2017 and has performed alongside some of Melbourne’s best local artists such as Billy Davis, Jordan Dennis, Blasko, and Deandre Brackensick.

RINI is a singer and multi-instrumentalist composer who has garnered international attention reaching over 2.5 million plays on Spotify and has over 19 thousand subscribers on YouTube.

His latest self-titled album ‘RINI’ features JSPA, Nasty Mars, and Olivia Escuyos, with a touch of RMR Productions, outlines themes of love, loss, and passion.

RINI is leading the way for Melbourne’s music scene to make itself apparent in the US market, he says, “Melbourne is diverse, there’s a lot of different cultures in Melbourne,” RINI tells me over the phone, calling in from Australia. “I came to Melbourne when I was 10, and having different friends with different backgrounds, listening to different music has influenced me a lot with my music taste. I found my inspiration from that [diversity].”

In an interview with DJBooth, he was asked “How did you first get into music?”
His response, “I started playing guitar when I was 10. I never used to sing; it was just a hobby I picked up. Eventually, I developed into this singing artist. I started making covers on YouTube, and that’s how I started getting people noticing me and saying, “You should start writing your own songs.” When I was 17, I had this friend [who’s] a producer. He had a beat he was gonna chuck away: “If you wanna use it, shout.” I was like, “Yeah!” I wrote a song to this beat, and it turned out alright! People loved it.”

For RINI, it is crucial to stay grounded and his advice to himself to do so?
“Come back to my roots. Be with the people I grew up with: My family, my friends, people I’ve been hanging around since the start. Those people remind you where you come from. It’s always: Be humble.”

Stream Rini on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music.