Young singers bring fresh life to Balinese pop

Made Jagra, Contributor, Denpasar, Bali

The stinging heat of the sun on the asphalt failed to stop hundreds of youths from flocking around the huge red truck parked before Bali's newly opened monument of Bajra Sandi in Renon, a prime neighborhood in Denpasar.

The reason was plain to see -- atop the truck stood Lolot, the hottest merchandise in the Balinese music industry.

Sporting a yellow T-shirt, black jeans and dark sunglasses, Lolot, to be honest, did not look any different from the teens crowding around him. He did not ooze the aura of a superstar, nor showed any glamorous flair common among show business personalities.

Yet, it was this young man, who -- by cleverly mixing the joyful tunes of modern ska music with Balinese lyrics -- had stolen the hearts of many Balinese youngsters.

In his debut album Gumine Mangkin (The World Nowadays), Lolot succeeds in exploring and presenting the laid-back, daily life of Balinese youngsters. His songs touches on such themes as forced marriage, the beautiful waitress at a cafe (which explains why Balinese boys are so fond of spending hours at a cafe) and being drunk.

However, unlike his contemporaries, Lolot also delves into the more serious theme of political hypocrisy. In Gumine Mangkin, he angrily depicts how the "Reformation" mantra had failed to stop the widespread corruption in this country.

In Bangsat (Damn), he lambasts the country's politicians as bloodsucking power-mongers.

"I have no intention of changing Balinese tradition and culture. I just want to express our daily experiences through lyrics written in the Balinese language, accompanied by music inspired by the global music setting," he said.

Made Adnyana, an influential figure among Balinese musicians, said Lolot was the latest in a string of young singers and bands that had recently emerged, bringing with them a new, energetic and modern spirit to the Balinese music scene.

"They have managed to reflect the Balinese youths' tastes and made necessary adjustments to their music so as to be able to meet those tastes. Elements from modern musical genres, such as from ska and rock music, are finely incorporated into their compositions," he said.

Adnyana is also the founder and chief organizer of the prestigious Gita Denpost Awards. Sponsored by the local Denpasar Post daily newspaper, the awards are bestowed annually to composers, singers and bands who have made significant achievements in Balinese pop music. The Balinese Pop Songs category refers to any songs -- regardless of their genre -- with lyrics in the Balinese language.

Lolot and his fellow young musicians, according to Adnyana, had removed the stigma of being outdated from Balinese pop songs.

In the old days, Balinese pop songs were characterized by their use of grammatically and socially correct Balinese language, and by the traditional moral and philosophical messages they carried.

"Now, the young musicians and singers are coming up with songs that are simpler in terms of language, are more down-to- earth and deal directly with day-to-day issues and occurrences," Adnyana said.

Most importantly, they did not profess to be pundits who knew everything and were giving advice or meting out moral judgments, but instead as peers who understood the Balinese youths' trials and tribulations -- simply because they were one of the gang.

Balinese pop songs surfaced in the 1970s when A.A. Made Cakra and his Putra Dewata Band became popular almost overnight with his evergreen songs Kusir Dokar (Horsecart Driver) and Bungan Sandat (Sandat Flower). The latter is so popular that it has become the island's semi-official anthem.

A new breed of singers entered the scene in the 1980s, initiated by Ketut Bimbo and Yong Sagita, who agitated the crowds -- male crowds in this case -- with songs littered with humor and sexual references.

However, their songs did not stand a chance when, in the 1990s, Widi Widiana, a young singer from Kuta, entered the scene.

Handsome, humble and soft-spoken, Widi soon attracted thousands of devoted fans from every walk of live. His romantic songs of unfulfilled love and the melodic Mandarin tunes he employed took no prisoners, and soon made Widi the biggest icon in the history of Balinese pop music.

In 2000, another new singer captured the local music enthusiasts' attention. Combining elements of traditional Sundanese (West Java) and Osing (Banyuwangi, East Java) music with Balinese music, Bayu KW stormed the charts at virtually every local radio station with his song on interethnic relationships, Sarinem Teri Kasem.

Bayu was also arguably the first musician who used both the Javanese and Balinese languages in his lyrics.

Widi Widiana, Bayu KW and Lolot are only the tip of an iceberg. These days, there is a kind of feverish rush as hordes of young composers and musicians struggle to bring their own unique innovations and renditions to the Balinese pop song scene.

Adnyana said the newcomers are struggling for a more profound goal: to break out Balinese songs onto the nation's mainstream music scene.

"Unfortunately, Balinese pop songs have not been able to cross ethnic barriers so far. They are still confined to the local audience, which is exclusively Balinese. We are working hard to boost Balinese pop songs onto the national stage. Javanese and Sundanese songs have already reached that stage, where they can be enjoyed and listened to by non-Javanese and non-Sundanese audiences."