Word: dangdut
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...Indonesian acts have ever found listeners outside the country, which is known abroad more for dangdut, gamelan and other ethnomusicological favorites. But Indonesians have been die-hard rock 'n' roll fans since the 1970s, when Procol Harum and Deep Purple made Jakarta a regular tour stop. The baby-boomer crowd still waxes nostalgic for classic rock licks and to this day continues to invite hair-band has-beens such as White Lion and Megadeth to embark on resurrection gigs. Subsequent generations, however, have forsworn feathered hair and eye shadow; the kiblat now is MTV. Seringai front man Arian, for example...
...rest of Indonesia knows little?and seemingly couldn't care less?about the fear in Aceh. In the mass media, dangdut dancer Inul Daratista's gyrations, the 2004 elections and the improving economy all featured far ahead of news about Aceh until virtually the day the campaign began. At the outset, television viewers saw some dramatic footage from Indonesian reporters embedded with the t.n.i. showing both sides of the conflict. But two days into the campaign, Aceh's military commander Major General Endang Suwarya flatly told the embeds that they were barred from using GAM statements. "I want all news...
...then few dangdut performers have reached Inul's level of national popularity, and none so quickly. Inul (her real name is Ainul Rokhimah; Inul Daratista means "the girl with the breasts") was born poor in the East Java village of Kejapanan, Gempol. She started her performing career as a rock singer at age 12 but soon switched to dangdut, the beat-happy folk-pop blend of Indian, Arab and Malay music that has long been the sound of rural Indonesia. Originally the music of the lower class, complete with bawdy lyrics and sexually suggestive dancing, dangdut was cleaned...
...Inul wants to take it back. "The real Inul is the people's singer," she says. Her roots run deep in dangdut's heartland. Though she initially earned a mere 40? per gig, Inul built a strong following in East Java, where her slam-dancing style was hardly unique. "A singer like Inul is quite familiar there," says Bre, who's been following Inul for two years. "You could find so many Inuls in any small town in East or Central Java...
...knees and swings her butt?in what, after careful and repeated observations, I'd estimate to be a 120? arc?she resembles a glittering piston. Betraying her rock roots, Inul doesn't so much twist in time with the music as arrhythmically hurl herself around the stage like a dangdut Joan Jett. If her performance is inspiring Indonesians to lustful acts, I just hope they limber up first...