Jogja Hiphop Foundation: When a Global Cultural Phenomenon Meets Javanese Culture

Prosiding The 4th International Conference on Indonesian Studies: “Unity, Diversity and Future” JOGJA HIPHOP FOUNDATION: WHEN A GLOBAL CULTURAL PHENOMENON MEETS JAVANESE CULTURE Mirdina Muchtadi Universitas Indonesia [email protected] Abstract HipHop is a youth culture consisting of the four elements rap music, graffiti, MCing and DJing. Originating from black African American inhabited suburbs in the United States around the 1970-ies as a counter movement against the dominating upper class, an anti-violence form of expression catalyzed by battles between territorial rivalry gangs and a growing leisure pastime among young working class African Americans, it expanded its popularity to different parts of the world. The HipHop culture became part of the African American identity, at the same time especially also quickly gained fame and fortune in the music industry. Today the HipHop culture is part of the popular culture and a global phenomenon, where its development, persuit, interpretation as well as performance vary from nations, societies to places. It is practiced in different ways and dimensions, uniting people from diffenrent backgrounds with the same interest. This paper examines the assimilation and acceptance of the HipHop culture in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta - a city, shaped and characterized by its ancient traditions and norms of the well-known Javanese culture. HipHopDiningrat or better known as Jogja HipHop Foundation (JHF), a foundation projecting itself to accommodate Yogyakarta based rap groups and art crews, is representing the answer to the HipHop scene in Yogyakarta and the state of glocality. Members of this foundation consciously stay true to their cultural heritage by means, artists are using the Javenese dialect for expressing their thoughts, adopting Javanese tales in their lyrics and arts pieces as well as implementing traditional Javanese instruments and music in their work. This paper shows how a locally traditional culture is able to modernly step forward by adapting a popular youth culture like HipHop into their prior existing believes and environments, modify the use and aim of it and construct new ways and perspectives of seeing the Javanese youth culture in a more global way, without losing its values, importance and loyalty for the roots. In other words, gaining popularity towards a modern form of expression of huge influence and carry on the Javanese culture to the next generation. Keywords: HipHop culture, Javanese culture, youth, adaptation, glocality 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.1.1 HipHop Culture and Rap Music It is known that musicians have used music to express their affections and feelings. Besides that music also plays an important role for the youth (Hitzler, Bucher & Niederbacher 2005). That is seen in today’s young generations, where usually certain 553 Prosiding The 4th International Conference on Indonesian Studies: “Unity, Diversity and Future” kinds of music genres are being liked. If this situation is identified with the social needs of a music genre, then it also arises group dynamics. This paper focuses on the genre rap music, which originated from the HipHop culture. The HipHop culture was born in the 1970ies in the centre of neo-liberal capitalism, the USA, more specifically in the Bronx, in the city of New York. It arose from within particular cultural groupings that had experienced life in the specific cultural context of the different parts of America in which they had lived and that initially was dominated by Black Afro-American experience and culture. The HipHop culture, which then was also seen as a movement, was catalyzed by the Black African- Americans who mostly were suffering from the deindustrialization in the big cities, where the consequences were carried by the poorer suburbs (Peschke 2010, p. 61). Since the 1980ies, HipHop is also called an urban youth culture (Klein & Friedrich 2003), because it does not only consist of rap music, but includes other elements like graffiti, DJing and breakdancing, which form the HipHop culture as a whole. Rap music is the element of the HipHop culture, which has been exposed the most and quickly became very popular. That is why, rap is often identified as the whole HipHop culture itself. “Rap ist das bekannteste und kommerziell erfolgreichste Feld des HipHop, seine Proragonisten sind die berühmtesten unter den HipHop-Aktivisten und stehen im Rampenlicht der Medien” (Klein & Friedrich 2003, p. 30). Rap was born in so-called blockparties, initiated by young Black African-Americans, who could not afford spending their leisure in fancy place. The blockparties would be held on the street and rap was used during the musical amusements of a DJ, where a master of ceremony, short MC, would shout into the crowd to warm up the audience and indirectly ask them to participate and dance to the music. The MC would do that by using short and simple phrases, that is why it is called rap because the spoken words are quick and sharp. Rap then developed, the MC started to tell short stories, which grabbed the attention and interest of the audience, since then rap music became very popular among. Besides rap was used to entertain the audience, rap also became an important form of expression among young Black African-Americans. They would usually rap about their life living in the ‘ghetto’, the struggle they’re going through and their dissatisfaction on their current situations. One of HipHop’s activists, who played an important role in the spreading of this culture to the world is Afrika Bambaataa. In 1974 he formed a religious and political organization called Zulu Nation, which until now still exists in many countries. The aim of the Zulu Nation is to promote brotherhood among the people living in the ‘ghetto’, so they would have an easier life filled with peace and no violence among street gangs. That is why Bambaataa did not want the HipHop activists to use violence to fight for their territorial power, instead he was telling them to use the art of graffiti, DJing, breakdancing and rap in form of battles. Battling became then an important part to all elements of the HipHop culture, it acted as a catalyst. “Bis heute ist Battle der Motor der Bewegung, der sie am Leben halt… Das ist es was HipHop lebendig und innovative macht” (Verlan & Loh 2006, p. 131). 1.1.2 Yogyakarta and the Javanese culture Java is an island that is inhabited by a variety of people, who follow different believes and customs. There is one region that is famous for being the guardian of the culture, traditions, behaviors and morals of its ancestors – the city of Yogyakarta and its 554 Prosiding The 4th International Conference on Indonesian Studies: “Unity, Diversity and Future” surrounding villages. Yogyakarta is situated approximately 500km southeast of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, and is the capital of the Yogyakarta Special Region Province. Yogyakarta has a long and rich history, documented in Indonesian literature. The city was founded in 1755, when the Sultanate of Mataram was divided by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) under the Treaty of Giyanti into two parts: the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, with Yogyakarta as its capital, and Surakarta Hadiningrat, with Surakarta as its capital. During the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1950) Yogyakarta played an important role in countering the aggression of the Dutch after World War II. As one of the ancient cities in Indonesia, the spatial development of Yogyakarta can be traced from its ancient origins to the most recent developments. It is clear that Yogyakarta is rich in traditions with its unique way of life. Kraton, or the Sultan's palace, is the centre of the citizens’ activities in the social political, spiritual and economical spheres. During its development, the location of the Kraton, which is at the centre of Yogyakarta, drove the sprawl of the city in a unique and ordered pattern. Kraton became the cultural centre and in many ways influenced the values and traditions of the society.1 For the majority of the natives in Yogyakarta, the center of Kraton and the Sultanate are still seen as important guidance or principle to how to order and connect their lives in a constantly changing world. Even though the population of Yogyakarta has grown a lot and also became modern, the people still preserve the customs.2 Before Java was influenced by major religions, the Javanese people already had believes that there is a God who protects them. This religiosity became then even more intense and meaningful when religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity started to spread in Java. This shows that the Javanese culture has huge tolerance to accepted other cultures, and that the process of acculturation is not something new, since the Javanese culture also puts forward reconciliation, respect, tolerance and social justice.3 The spreading of the Javanese people into different parts of the world, but also in Indonesia itself, shows that the Javanese culture actively adjusts itself with globalization. 4 1.1.3 Rap Music in Yogyakarta and the Jogja HipHop Foundation The HipHop culture in Indonesia and rap music itself, started to flourish only in the early 1990ies. The first Indonesian rapper, who published a full-length album was Iwa K, who was inspired by Farid Hardja, a singer who practiced the art of speaking a little faster than usual, accompanied by music. That is why, Iwa K. then officially introduced rap music to Indonesia.5 Rap then became more popular among certain

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