Young singers bring fresh life to Balinese pop

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."