Dangdut
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Dangdut (Template:IPAc-en) is a genre of Indonesian folk music that is partly derived and fused from Hindustani, Arabic, and, to a lesser extent, Javanese, Malay, Minangkabau, Sundanese and local folk music.<ref name="Campbell">Template:Citation</ref><ref name="Browne">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Dangdut is the most popular musical genre in Indonesia<ref name="Campbell" /> and very popular in other Maritime Southeast Asian countries because of its melodious instrumentation and vocals.<ref name="Nuvich">Template:Citation</ref><ref name="NuvichCampbell">Template:Citation</ref> Dangdut features a tabla and gendang beat.<ref name="Campbell" />
Several popular dangdut singers include Rhoma Irama, Mansyur S., Elvy Sukaesih, Camelia Malik and now Iyeth Bustami, Ayu Ting Ting, Lesti Kejora and Via Vallen as Indonesian dangdut divas. Their music includes strong Indian music influences as the basis of harmony, theme, and beat. A dangdut musical group typically consists of a lead singer, backed by four to eight musicians. Instruments usually include a tabla, gendang, flute, mandolin, guitars, sitar, drum machines, and synthesisers.<ref>"No Money, No Honey: a Study of Street Traders and Prostitutes in Jakarta" by Alison Murray. Oxford University Press, 1992. Glossary page xii</ref> Modern dangdut incorporates influences from Middle Eastern pop music, Western rock, reggae, disco, contemporary R&B, hip-hop, house, and electronic dance music.<ref name="Campbell" /><ref name="vv1992">Template:Citation</ref>
The popularity of dangdut peaked in the 1970s and 1980s but emerged in the late 1960s.<ref name="britannica">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> By 2012, it was still largely popular in Western Indonesia, but the genre was becoming less popular in the eastern parts, apart from Maluku.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Meanwhile, more regional and faster-paced forms of dangdut (as opposed to slower, Bollywood-influenced dangdut) have risen in popularity.
Development
The term dangdut is an onomatopoeia for the sound of the tabla (also known as gendang) drum, which is written dang and ndut.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref name=":0" /> Putu Wijaya initially mentioned in the 27 May 1972 edition of Tempo magazine that the doll song from India was a mixture of Malay songs, desert rhythms, and Indian "dang-ding-dut". It was reportedly coined by the music magazine Aktuil, although Rhoma Irama stated that it was coined as a term of derision by the rich upper class to the music of the poor. Despite its derogatory intent, it was seized upon by those playing it, and the term appears in Rhoma's 1973 dangdut classic.Template:Citation needed
Dangdut, as a term, branched from a collective sound tradition of the Orkes Melayu ("Malay orchestra") brought by bangsawan performers of Riau to Medan, Jakarta and Surabaya from the 1930s; its genesis can be pointed to heavy incorporation of music from Bollywood films among orkes bands in Jakarta in the 1950s – the films had huge the popularity following Sukarno's embargo on Western music and film during this time.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> Modern Minangkabau music is also the forerunner of dangdut, along with Malay music.
Orkes Melayu singer Ellya Khadam switched to dangdut in the 1970s, and by 1972, she was the number-one artist in Indonesia. Her success, along with that of Rhoma Irama, meant that by 1975, 75 per cent of all recorded music in Indonesia was of the dangdut genre, with pop bands such as Koes Plus adopting the style.Template:Citation needed
Culture and controversy
Dangdut has become "contemporary folk music" in Indonesia. Its popularity surpasses those of other music genres:<ref name="Campbell" /><ref name="Browne" /> people love to sing its songs with karaoke, both for themselves and during family celebrations, employees in central government offices exercise to its music before starting work, and so on. Political party campaign stages also do not miss out on utilising the popularity of dangdut to attract the masses.<ref name="Høeg10">Høeg Jensen, Simon (2012), Islam og Dangdut: en undersøgelse af indonesiske musikkulturers forhold til islam og kulturelle rettigheder (PDF) (in Danish), Københavns Universitet, p. 10.</ref>
Most major cities, especially on Java, have one or more venues with a dangdut show several times a week. Concerts of major dangdut stars are also broadcast on television.<ref name="Campbell" /><ref name="Browne" /> Because of the genre's popularity, some movies and TV shows have dangdut-centered themes, such as Rhoma Irama's movies and Rudy Soedjarwo's Mendadak Dangdut.
As scholars note, dangdut is the most controversial genre regarding its relation to Indonesian Islamic morality,<ref name="Høeg14–15,26–31">Høeg Jensen 2012, pp. 14–15, 26–31.</ref> and few popular music genres around the world are more focused on women's bodies than dangdut,<ref name="Decker">Template:Citation</ref> whose lyrics often portray women as sexual objects.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
On the one side, within dangdut, a religious current (spiritual dangdut) emerged. While most dangdut songs tell about relationships with boy(girl)friends, spiritual works are directed to God. The main contribution to the emergence of spiritual dangdut was made by Rhoma Irama (albums Hak Azazi, Judi, Takbir Lebaran, Haji, Haram, Baca, and Shalawat Nabi), who made dangdut as a tool for his preaching, which can be seen from the lyrics of the songs he created and from the statements he issued himself.<ref name="Høeg17–25">Høeg Jensen 2012, pp. 17–25.</ref>
On the other side, beginning in 2003, certain dangdut musicians became the focus of a national controversy in Indonesia regarding performances by koplo dangdut singer Inul Daratista, which religious conservatives described as erotic and sexually suggestive. Protests led by dangdut megastar and devout Muslim Rhoma Irama called for Daratista to be banned from television, and legislation was passed in 2008 by the People's Consultative Assembly that introduced a broad range of activities described as pornography.<ref name="Indonesia passes broad anti-pornography bill">Template:Citation</ref><ref name="Høeg32">Høeg Jensen 2012, p. 32.</ref>
The flamboyant performances at some dangdut shows also attracted collateral attention in May 2012 when a row broke out in Indonesia over a planned performance by international star Lady Gaga in Jakarta due to be held in early June 2012. In the face of opposition from conservative Muslim groupsTemplate:Which in Indonesia, the planned show was cancelled. This cancellation led numerous commentators to note that opposition to Lady Gaga's performances was surprising given the nature of some dangdut shows.<ref>Taufiqurrahman, M., ''Dangdut' the collateral damage in the Gaga saga', The Jakarta Post, 8 June 2012.</ref>
Dangdut remains an integral part of Indonesian life and pop culture despite conservative Muslim concerns over the supposed vulgarity of some performances (such as by Dewi Persik and Julia Perez).<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Due to national laws, dangdut performers seek a balance of perceived womanhood, sexuality, and morality.<ref name="Decker" />
Gallery
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The tabla, one of the most important and main percussion instruments in dangdut
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Rhoma Irama, known as "Raja Dangdut" (King of Dangdut) and the pioneer of "spiritual dangdut"
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Koplo singer in Yogyakarta
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Dangdut singer Yan Vellia in Pacitan, East Java
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Dangdut Cowboys, dangdut band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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2014 Indonesian Dangdut Awards by Indosiar
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See also
References
Further reading
- Music of Indonesia [Series]. Ed. by Philip Yampolsky. Washington, DC: Smithsonian/Folkways, 1990–1999. 20 Compact Discs with Liner Notes. Bibliography.
- Vol. 2 (1991): Indonesian Popular Music: Kroncong, Dangdut, & Langgam Jawa.
- Template:Cite book