“He has good character in his voice,” said Rissa, 38, pointing out that the quality of the voice is critical in dangdut. Rissa auditioned between 30 and 40 singers in the Delaware area, but Arreal stood out. Her vision was to use dangdut music as a cultural bridge. “I love my country, Indonesia,” she said. She envisioned something more - a true cultural exchange between the two countries that had shaped her own life. In 2004, Rissa founded NSA Productions and began promoting Indonesian artists on tours in the U.S., but after four years she realized the audience was still overwhelmingly Indonesian.
The woman who placed the ad was Rissa Asnan, an energetic mother of three who had moved to the U.S. “But I never knew it would be like this!” “I was searching for something different,” recalled Arreal with a laugh. The ad said it was looking for singers for a new project in a new style of music called dangdut. Soon afterwards, the singer came across an advertisement in a local newspaper. But the pull of music was too strong for him.”It didn’t work because my heart wasn’t happy,” said Arreal of the time period. During one frustrated evening he smashed his guitar and pledged never to follow music again. He left home at 17 and moved to Wilmington, Delaware where he began singing in R&B and hip hop groups.Īfter a few years of traveling and playing at local clubs, the day-to-day pressures of maintaining a singing career led Arreal to question his path in life. He dreamed of a musical career, but his home city Cambridge, with a population of just over 10,000 at the time, offered little opportunity for the ambitious teenager. “So I guess you could say that it’s in the blood.” “I used to listen to them and love them,” he said. His grandfather was part of a group that sang gospel, a style of music that originated in the African-American community and went on to influence pop and rock n’ roll. The artist’s journey, from a small city in Maryland in the United States to being recognized by the Indonesia Museum of Records as the first foreign dangdut singer, is one that reflects the adventurous spirit of dangdut music itself.Īrreal began singing before he was five years old. “ Dangdut is not just a music,” said Tilghman, 22, who recently spent two months training and studying in Indonesia. Now, as Tilghman gets ready to release his first solo album, the genre can add R&B, hip-hop and even gospel to that list. The vibrant and constantly evolving musical form that draws on Arabic, Malay, Indian and rock influences exploded in the 1970s with acts such as Rhoma Irama and Elvy Sukaesih. “ Diberanda ini … Kumenanti dirimu oh kasih… ,” he sings in the cengkok style typical of dangdut performers. Please Klik here ” Dangdut In American Arreal Tilghman”Īrreal Tilghman: Finding his voice in ‘dangdut’Īsk Arreal Tilghman about dangdut music and the American-born singer breaks into a wide grin. Please Klik here ” Soneta ceramah In washington DC” Please klik here “Soneta In Washington DC” Pittsburgh’s own Dangdut Cowboys will open the show. Formed in 1970, Rhoma Irama’s group Soneta continues to perform throughout Indonesia and abroad. His songs have been the subject of scholarly articles and world music books and textbooks.
Rhoma Irama has garnered attention both at home and throughout the world as the King of Dangdut (”Raja Dangdut”). He is closely identified with dakwah (religious) compositions, which are designed to inform, instruct, and lead his listeners. Rhoma Irama’s lyrics express themes of everyday life, love, social criticism against class inequality, and Islamic messages. Using print and electronic media to defend the genre against claims that it was backward and unsophisticated, he paved the way for dangdut to become Indonesia’s most popular music. 1947) has been a dominant force in Indonesian music and popular culture since the early 1970s.Ĭomposer of hundreds of songs and star of over 20 films, Rhoma Irama occupies a central place in the history of dangdut, a music genre that blends Malay, Indian, Middle Eastern, and western musical forms. Musician, composer, record producer, film star,Īnd Islamic proselytiser Rhoma Irama (b. Rhoma Irama and his 10-piece band Soneta will perform a concert in Bellefield Auditorium on October 11 at 8pm. In conjunction with the international conference on Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia, Pittsburgh’s own Dangdut Cowboys will open for Rhoma Irama and Soneta.Ĭo-sponsored by UCIS, CERIS, School of Arts and Sciences, and the Department Legendary Dangdut musician Rhoma Irama and his band Soneta perform at Bellefield Hall.