Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu, known professionally as Inna, is a Romanian singer. Born in Mangalia and raised in Neptun, she studied political science at Ovidius University before meeting the Romanian trio Play & Win and pursuing a music career. She adopted the stage name "Alessandra" and a pop-rock style in 2008; later that year, she changed her stage name to "Inna" and began releasing EDM, house and popcorn music. "Hot" (2008), her debut single, was a commercial success worldwide and topped the Romanian and Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay chart, among others. Her debut studio album of the same name followed in August 2009 and was certified Gold and Platinum. It featured several other successful singles in Europe, including "Amazing" (2009), the singer's second number-one single in Romania.
Hot is the debut studio album by Romanian singer Inna, released on 4 August 2009 by Magic Records. Inna collaborated on the record with Romanian trio Play & Win, who entirely wrote, produced and arranged Hot at their Play & Win Studios in Constanța, Romania. It was described as an electronic dance music (EDM) album, with influences varying from trance, electro house and techno to Hi-NRG, synth-pop and chillout. Lyrically, Hot deals with love themes. Music critics gave the album positive to mixed reviews, praising the danceable style but criticizing its lack of innovation. At the 2010 Romanian Music Awards, Hot won in the Best Album category, while also receiving an award at the 2011 Radio România Actualităţi Awards in the Pop/Dance Album of the Year section.
Romanian singer Inna has released eleven studio albums, three compilations, 62 singles and 51 promotional singles. Her YouTube channel surpassed three billion total views as of May 2019. 24 of her singles have reached the top ten in Romania, with "Hot", "Amazing", "Diggy Down", "Bebe", "Up" and "Tare" topping the country's singles chart in 2008, 2009, 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. With global album sales of four million copies from her first three studio albums, Inna is the best-selling Romanian artist.
Romanian singer Alexandra Stan has released five studio albums, a reissue album, three extended plays, one compilation album, two video albums, two remix albums, 47 singles and 11 promotional singles. Stan's career began in 2009, when music producers Marcel Prodan and Andrei Nemirschi heard her singing at a karaoke bar and signed her to their label, Maan Studio. That same year, she released the promotional song "Show Me the Way". Her debut single, "Lollipop " (2009), reached number 58 in Romania.
"Be My Lover" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for the deluxe edition of her third studio album, Party Never Ends (2013). It was released on 26 July 2013 through Roton. The track was written by Uli Brenner, Lane McCray, Gerd Amir Saraf and Melanie Thornton, with production handled by Afrojack and METI. Musically, "Be My Lover" encompasses dubstep, electro dance, club and house genres, sampling the 1995 song of the same name by La Bouche, for which Brenner, McCray, Saraf and Thornton received writing credits.
"In Your Eyes" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for her third studio album, Party Never Ends (2013). It was released on 3 November 2013 through Roton, featuring the vocal collaboration of Puerto Rican reggaeton performer Yandel. The track–recorded at the Rokstone Studios–was written by Steve Mac, Yandel and Ina Wroldsen, while production was solely handled by Mac. Musically, "In Your Eyes" is inspired by Latin music and encompasses a hip hop style because of Yandel's contribution.
"Cola Song" is a song recorded by Romanian recording artist Inna for Body and the Sun (2015), the Japanese counterpart of her fourth studio album Inna (2015), and the American counterpart of her third studio album, Party Never Ends. It was made available for digital download on 15 April 2014 through Atlantic Records, which was the result of the singer signing a record deal with the label earlier that year. Initially planned to be named "Soy Latinna", the recording contains guest vocals from Colombian reggaeton performer J Balvin, who wrote and produced the song along with Andrew Frampton, Breyan Isaac, Thomas Joseph Rozdilsky and Andreas Schuller. The single is musically an electro house, electronic and Latin track which incorporates saxophone and horn in its instrumentation, and elements from Inna's previous collaboration with Schuller on "Piñata 2014" (2013).
Inna is the fourth studio album recorded by Romanian singer Inna. It was released on 30 October 2015 by Warner Music, while a Japanese version of the record titled Body and the Sun was made available on 23 July 2015 by Roton and Empire Music. The singer collaborated with various producers on the album, including The Monsters and the Strangerz, Axident, Play & Win and Thomas Troelsen. Its material includes multiple genres, such as dance-pop, deep house, electro house, electropop and Latin.
Alesta is the third studio album recorded by Romanian recording artist Alexandra Stan. It was released both digitally and physically on 9 March 2016 through Victor Entertainment as a follow-up to Unlocked (2014). To achieve her desired sound, Stan collaborated with several producers on the record, including Andreas Schuller, Thomas Troelsen, Sebastian Barac and Marcel Botezan. The singer also took part at a music camp organized by Marius Moga, where she further worked on material featured on the album. Musically, Alesta, a dance record, draws influence from ethnic, Eastern and Western European music. Lyrically, Stan confessed during an interview with Cosmopolitan that every recording "[tells] a different story".
"Gimme Gimme" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for her fifth studio album, Nirvana. It was made available for digital consumption as the record's first single on 1 February 2017 through Roton and Global Records. The recording was written by Inna, Breyan Isaac and Elena Luminița Vasile, along with its producers Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan and David Ciente. A pop song with Bollywood, Indian and Gyspy influences, "Gimme Gimme" features "simple but meaningful" romantic lyrics.
"Nirvana" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for her fifth studio album of the same name (2017). It was made available for digital download on 28 November 2017 by Global Records, as the record's third single. The track was written by Inna and Thomas Troelsen, while production was handled by Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, David Ciente, Vlad Lucan and Troelsen. Musically, "Nirvana" is a Latin-influenced club song, featuring a rap delivered in Spanish during its drop.
"Me Gusta" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna. Written by Inna and produced by David Ciente, the track was released for digital download and streaming on 14 February 2018 by Roton and Empire Music Management. "Me Gusta" is a Spanish language song, featuring an electronic production and beat drops. A reviewer noted an Asian sound. Lyrically, Inna admires a man's presence and dance abilities.
"Sin Ti" is a song by Romanian singer Inna, digitally released on 18 January 2019 by Global Records and Roc Nation as the third single from her sixth studio album Yo (2019). It was written by Inna and Cristina Maria Chiluiza, while production was handled by David Ciente. A Spanish language track, it discusses the theme of love and Inna's connection with her love interest. Musically, the song partially showcases the dembow genre, and has an instrumentation consisting of bass, strings, flamenco-tinged Spanish guitar and sampled vocals.
"Tu Manera" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna, digitally released on 1 March 2019 by Roc Nation as the fourth single for her sixth studio album Yo (2019). It was written by Inna and Cristina Maria Chiluiza, while production was handled by David Ciente. "Tu Manera" is a Spanish-language dance, Latin and Caribbean-influenced pop song that represents Inna falling for someone through its lyrics. A music video for the song was released on 7 March 2019; directed by Bogdan Păun, it features the singer performing several activities in front of a house in a dusty landscape. Commercially, "Tu Manera" reached number 78 on Romania's Airplay 100 chart. It was included on the soundtrack of the American television series Grand Hotel, as well as used for Need for Speed Heat and an Apple Watch commercial.
"Te Vas" is a song by Romanian singer Inna, digitally released on 31 May 2019 by Global Records as the fifth single from her sixth studio album Yo (2019). It was written by Inna and Cristina Maria Chiluiza, while production was handled by Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, David Ciente and Alexandru Cotoi. A Spanish-language house song reminiscent of Inna's past material, the track lyrically discusses the bond between two separated lovers.
"Not My Baby" is a song by Romanian singer Inna, released for digital download as a single by Global Records on 3 April 2020. It was composed by Inna alongside Lara Andersson, Michelle Buzz, Junior Oliver Frid, and Fridolin Walcher, while the latter received credit as a producer under his stage name of Freedo. The song was noted as being a hi-NRG-inspired dance-pop, deep house, EDM and Europop track, as well as a departure from the experimental and gypsy music-influenced sound of Inna's Spanish studio album, Yo. Inna had already retransitioned to a more electronic production prior to the song with "Bebe" in 2019. The lyrics of the former delve on a toxic relationship with a selfish and untruthful partner.
Heartbreaker is the seventh studio album by Romanian singer Inna. It was released for streaming to YouTube and SoundCloud by Global Records on 27 November 2020, and was issued to fellow platforms and released for digital download a week later under the same label. An EDM, Middle Eastern and Latin-influenced dance-pop release, the album was preceded by Inna's retransition to the EDM genre following the release of Yo (2019), her experimental and gypsy-inspired sixth studio album.
"Flashbacks" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna for her seventh studio album, Heartbreaker (2020). It was written by Inna and Minelli alongside its producers Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, David Ciente and Alexandru Cotoi. On 20 January 2021, the song was serviced as the lead single of the album to Romanian radio stations. An electropop and EDM-inspired electro dance and dance-pop track, it is driven by a piano loop and slap bass. Lyrically, the song talks about a woman struggling to let go of her love interest who is far away.
"Up" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Inna. Global Records sent it to Romanian radio stations on 21 October 2021. Another version of the track with Jamaican rapper Sean Paul was issued on 17 December 2021. "Up" was written by Inna, Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, Alex Cotoi and Minelli, while the production was handled by Barac, Botezan and Cotoi; Paul received additional writing and production credits on his version. "Up" is a dancehall-influenced pop song, with its lyrics describing a healing love.
Just Dance is the ninth studio album by Romanian singer Inna. It was released in two parts, Just Dance #DQH1 and Just Dance #DQH2, that were made available for digital download and streaming through Global Records on 10 February and 14 April 2023, respectively. Inna vlogged the progress of Just Dance through her YouTube channel. The daily episodic videos were part of the third season of her Dance Queen's House series. The singer collaborated with several producers on the record, including Alexandru Cotoi, Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan, Adelina Stinga, Viky Red, and Alexandru Turcu. Just Dance has been described as EDM and its subgenres, with influences varying from Eurodance and house.
