Photo credits: George Carr
The Japanese DJ riria has been steadily building a reputation for her dynamic and unpredictable sets. Now gaining momentum across international stages, she is preparing for a slew of pivotal performances in the coming months, cementing herself as an artist to watch in the electronic music landscape.
riria, born in 2001, has been actively DJ’ing from an early age. Starting out in the Tokyo scene, she has since found her feet in London where she is currently based. riria’s sets elegantly embrace her UK-rooted sound, but continually ventures out to emerging global club sounds.
Specialising in genres such as Amapiano, Jersey Club, and Dub, riria has been steadily been on the forefront of combining commercial hits, cult classics, and underground gems – all masterfully mixed in an addictive live show. Regardless of genre, riria makes sure to include high-energy tracks that get crowds moving – and always seems to be having a blast while doing so.
riria’s 2024 Tokyo Boiler Room set quickly became a fan favourite, amassing over 4 million views on YouTube within five weeks. Several tracks saw a massive spike in popularity after being featured in the set. During the runtime of this set, riria is always two steps ahead of the listener with track selections as unpredictable as they are hard hitting. Ranging from obscure SoundCloud finds to established club classics, had the crowd on the tip of their toes during the duration of her 48-minute set.
A stand-out moment of the set is the crowd’s reaction when riria seamlessly mixes into a jersey club-remix of iconic K-pop group NewJeans’s 2023 hit, ‘ETA’. Fans in the comment section seem to unanimously agree that that is going down in Boiler Room history.
Yet another stellar set by the rising talent is her 2025 Antídoto set in Madrid. Here riria further proves her almost intuitive ability to curate a diverse selection of tracks from different eras and scenes that always come together in a way that feels both effortless and fresh. A highlight of the set is a high-energy remix of Justin Timerlake’s ‘SexyBack’ where distorted, jersey club inspired rhythms stir up the crowd, and get them visibly excited.
The Tokyo-born DJ has a packed schedule this May, with appearances lined up across Europe and Japan, offering plenty of chances to experience her sets firsthand. Be sure to catch her if you can.
Be sure to catch one of riria’s upcoming shows in May:
05-01 — Murcia, Spain — WARM UP Festival
05-07 — Paris, France — Boiler Room
05-09 — Pristina, Kosovo — Kultura House @ Hekurudha
05-16 — Kyoto, Japan — Star Festival
05-23 — Bristol, UK — Love Saves The Day Festival
05-29 — Belfast, UK — AVA Festival
05-30 — Liverpool, UK — Baltic Weekender
05-31 — Dublin, Ireland — Forbidden Fruit Festival
Follow riria:
Instagram – SoundCloud – YouTube – TikTok
