Towards the end of 2024, a snippet of a song titled “Garam & Madu (Sakit Dadaku)” by three Gen Z artists: Tenxi, Naykilla and Jemsii went viral across the Indonesian mediascape. The widespread media circulation sparked active internet discourse, leading online audiences to coin a new term for the genre this song brought to prominence: hipdut (hip hop and dangdut). Although the evolution of dangdut as the music of “the people” is far from novel, this fusion genre may have unlocked the first momentum where dangdut garnered massive response from the younger audience while simultaneously being condemned as “bad” music for its lewdness. Following the genre’s initial online emergence, this research employed virtual fieldwork and literature review to examine the logic behind the guilty pleasure of indulging in “bad” music and to unravel the possibilities of “where is dangdut going?” Inspired by Duke Ellington’s (1962) self-reflective essay on the future of jazz, this research illuminates the versatility and volatility of dangdut, qualities that are essential to the genre’s continued relevance and vitality. The preliminary findings contribute beyond existing accounts on what hipdut trend reveals about contemporary Indonesian society; this particular case may arguably be an exemplary case of how publicly contested, “morally incorrect” means could be mobilized for cultural preservation.

Authors:
Nitalia Wijaya, Seoul National University, South Korea

About the Presenter(s)
Nitalia Wijaya is currently pursuing a master's degree in Anthropology at Seoul National University. Her main interests lie at the interfusion between linguistic/education/food anthropology, ethnochoreology, and ethnomusicology.

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