:Dangdut

File:Dangdut Silaturahmi Ramadhan Surabaya.JPG, 2009]]

The term dangdut is an onomatopoeia for the sound of the tabla (also known as gendang) drum, which is written dang and ndut.{{citation|last=Wallach|first=Jeremy|chapter=Notes on Dangdut Music, Popular Nationalism, and Indonesian Islam|title=Sonic Modernities in the Malay World: A History of Popular Music, Social Distinction and Novel Lifestyles (1930s – 2000s)|editor-last=Bart|editor-first=Barendregt|pages=271–90|place=Leiden|publisher=Brill|date=2014|isbn=978-90-04-25986-7|jstor=10.1163/j.ctt1w8h0zn.13}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

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.{{cite journal |last1=Weintraub |first1=Andrew |date=2010 |title=Music and Malayness: Orkes Melayu in Indonesia. 1950-1965 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arch_0044-8613_2010_num_79_1_4160 |journal=Archipel |volume=79 |issue=1 |pages=69-73 |doi=10.3406/arch.2010.4160}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

File:Islam og Dangdut .pdf, 2011 (from Simon Høeg Jensen's book)]]

Dangdut has become "contemporary folk music" in Indonesia. Its popularity surpasses those of other music genres: 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.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.

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. 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,Høeg Jensen 2012, pp.

14–15, 26–31. and few popular music genres around the world are more focused on women's bodies than dangdut,{{citation |author=Decker, Andrea Louise |date=2016 |title=Performing gender to Dangdut's drum: Place, space, and infrastructure in Indonesian popular music |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8q7181qr |via=eScholarship (University of California)}} whose lyrics often portray women as sexual objects.{{citation |author1=Kusumaningsih, Dewi |author2=K. Saddhono |author3=N. Tri Rahayu |author4=H. Hanafi |author5=A. D. Saputra |author6=P. D. J. Setyaningsih |date=2024 |title=Gender inequality in Indonesian Dangdut songs containing vulgar content: A critical discourse study |journal=Research Journal in Advanced Humanities |volume=5 |issue=3 |url=https://www.royalliteglobal.com/advanced-humanities/article/view/1412 |doi=10.58256/vvzzjz37}}

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.Høeg Jensen 2012, pp.

17–25.

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.{{citation | first=Peter | last=Gelling | title=Indonesia passes broad anti-pornography bill | date=30 October 2008 | newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}Høeg Jensen 2012, p.

32.

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 groups{{which|date=December 2019}} 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.Taufiqurrahman, M., '[http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/08/dangdut-collateral-damage-gaga-saga.html 'Dangdut' the collateral damage in the Gaga saga'], The Jakarta Post, 8 June 2012.

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).{{citation| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17520726 | work=BBC News | title=Raunchy dangdut music stirs debate in Indonesia | date=27 March 2012}}

Due to national laws, dangdut performers seek a balance of perceived womanhood, sexuality, and morality.

File:Prop._Tabla.jpg|The tabla, one of the most important and main percussion instruments in dangdut

File:Rhoma Irama gives lecture.jpg|Rhoma Irama, known as "Raja Dangdut" (King of Dangdut) and the pioneer of "spiritual dangdut"

File:Dangdut singer Yogyakarta.jpg|Koplo singer in Yogyakarta

File:Dangdut singer Yan Vellia.jpg|Dangdut singer Yan Vellia in Pacitan, East Java

File:Dangdut Cowboys Hadir di Indonesia Meriahkan Peringatan 70 Tahun Hubungan AS-RI (32597920877).jpg|Dangdut Cowboys, dangdut band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

File:Indonesian dangdut award indosiar 2014-06-13 01-25.jpg|2014 Indonesian Dangdut Awards by Indosiar

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{{Reflist|colwidth=40em}}

• [https://folkways.si.edu/music-of-indonesia-series 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.
• {{cite book |surname=Weintraub |given=Andrew N. |year=2010 |title=Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia's Most Popular Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VP1P_SQ5jj0C |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-539567-9}}

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Category:Dance music genres

Category:Folk music genres

Category:Indonesian folk music

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