Photo courtesy of Senartogok
Indonesia's independent hip-hop scene is on fire right now. In fact, today are so many new releases by promising artists that it can hard to keep up. To borrow a line from the raved about hip-hop compilation Pretext For Bumrush, the Indonesian hip-hop scene is entering its most crucial and best period in the last three years.And perhaps no one is more responsible for hip-hop's rise right now than Senartogok, a producer, beatmaker, and MC from Bandung, West Java. Senartogok, or Tarjo to his friends, has an innate ability to sniff out fresh talent and help them hone their skills. He's the man behind the success of Papua's Joe Million, Rand Slam's breakout album Reimajinasi, and the hotly anticipated debut from Pangalo!, HURJE! Maka Merapallah Zarathustra.There's a reason Senartogok is so popular right now—the man is relentless. His Soundcloud account is a survey of the best MCs and producers on the scene right now. His label Maraton Mikrofon is a rising force in hip-hop, a go-to label for anyone interested in the kinds of rappers real hip-hop heads champion.Senartogok took a break from his busy schedule to talk to VICE's Abdul Manan Rasudi about why now, more than ever, hip-hop is the sound of Indonesia.VICE: Hi Tarjo. Tell us a bit about your record label, Maraton Mikrofon.
Senartogok: Maraton Mikrofon is a sub-label that I started to release Joe Million’s Vulgar in 2016. The idea for it just came out of nowhere. Maraton Mikrofon was a song title that Joe, Rand Slam, Doyz, and I were working on. During the songwriting process, we hung out a lot and discussed ideas. So from a song title, it became the name of a forum, and our WhatsApp group. Maraton Mikrofon ended up being a sub-label of Propagasi Records, which is owned by Perpustakaan Jalanan. Propagasi Records didn’t work out after all, but Maraton Mikrofon did and we released a lot of stuff, including Nyanyian Bintang and Kompilasi Festival Kampung Kota.How important is SoundCloud to your success?
I've been selling physical releases at small stores, community events, and shows since 2009. It's all out there. But the internet made it a challenge to release an album. These days, people use the internet for everything—it's where they read the news, buy and sell stuff, look up information, do their college assignments, and collect music. SoundCloud is only one of the many music platforms on the web. It's just the one I use. We've also started to use Spotify, iTunes, and the like to attract the kinds of people who would purchase our physical releases. These websites are a medium for promotion only, so it doesn't have to be SoundCloud. Who knows what platform will pop up in the future.A lot of the artists on Maraton Mikrofon are still considered pretty "niche" in Indonesia. What are the challenges of running an independent label in this kind of landscape?
Since the beginning, my principle has always been that this is for my “friends, not fans." My music also has an element of resistance to it. So it’s more about finding new friends through music. I mean it's pretentious to say that I’m not looking to profit off of this. I’m simply trying to maximize our income and use it for other small purposes in life. I realized pretty early on that the music I listen to and put out isn't part of the mainstream. The biggest challenge is to work out the profit, loss, and production cost. At Maraton Mikrofon, we have our own idea of success: If we break even, thats good, if we make profit, we’ll donate it, and if we lose money, we’ll cover it using other projects.Why are you so adamant about working with obscure, unknown rappers?
There are two reasons. One, they’re my best friends. Two, because I’m not that well-known either. There’s no other criteria. Launching a new rapper's career is like collectively trying to lift your friend up. It’s a big challenge. How will this roster create something that has a selling value and aesthetics? I’m about to release stuff from Pubriot, Eviction, and Bankshot. But has anyone ever heard of them? [Laughs].It's not complicated to make a new release. It's like “I have music, let me record it. Oh, it’s not too bad, let me distribute it." From there, other questions will surface like, “Who will buy it?," "Does it sound good?," "How many will I sell?," "Where will the artist perform?," and "How do I promote it?” You have to be self-aware of your strengths and hope. Other times, I just try to convince myself, to put something out—some of my friends will buy it and others can help promote it. Then I can make a music video. After releasing 17 albums, we understand that this music makes people feel a connection to the scene and a sense of collectivity, even though the market is small.What could help the hip-hop scene break out into the wider market here? How do we fix this distribution problem?
Maybe it's not a distribution problem. I think this sort of segmented distribution works. We just need more releases of remixes, mash-ups, instrumentals, and cuts. But I feel like the diversification of hip-hop is alive-and-well at the moment. Da Kriss and Densky already released some hip-hop instrumentals. Recently, Dangerdope released a beat tape sampling the movie Gejolak Kawula Muda. I’m also working on four remix albums, which I will put out as well.This interview has been translated and edited for length and clarity.
"The Road" is a series by VICE x Tokopedia that presents profiles of seemingly "common" people who have the bravery to chase after their dreams despite doubts and obstacles, and who have become respected figures in their own field. #MulaiAjaDulu
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Senartogok: Maraton Mikrofon is a sub-label that I started to release Joe Million’s Vulgar in 2016. The idea for it just came out of nowhere. Maraton Mikrofon was a song title that Joe, Rand Slam, Doyz, and I were working on. During the songwriting process, we hung out a lot and discussed ideas. So from a song title, it became the name of a forum, and our WhatsApp group. Maraton Mikrofon ended up being a sub-label of Propagasi Records, which is owned by Perpustakaan Jalanan. Propagasi Records didn’t work out after all, but Maraton Mikrofon did and we released a lot of stuff, including Nyanyian Bintang and Kompilasi Festival Kampung Kota.How important is SoundCloud to your success?
I've been selling physical releases at small stores, community events, and shows since 2009. It's all out there. But the internet made it a challenge to release an album. These days, people use the internet for everything—it's where they read the news, buy and sell stuff, look up information, do their college assignments, and collect music. SoundCloud is only one of the many music platforms on the web. It's just the one I use. We've also started to use Spotify, iTunes, and the like to attract the kinds of people who would purchase our physical releases. These websites are a medium for promotion only, so it doesn't have to be SoundCloud. Who knows what platform will pop up in the future.
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Since the beginning, my principle has always been that this is for my “friends, not fans." My music also has an element of resistance to it. So it’s more about finding new friends through music. I mean it's pretentious to say that I’m not looking to profit off of this. I’m simply trying to maximize our income and use it for other small purposes in life. I realized pretty early on that the music I listen to and put out isn't part of the mainstream. The biggest challenge is to work out the profit, loss, and production cost. At Maraton Mikrofon, we have our own idea of success: If we break even, thats good, if we make profit, we’ll donate it, and if we lose money, we’ll cover it using other projects.Why are you so adamant about working with obscure, unknown rappers?
There are two reasons. One, they’re my best friends. Two, because I’m not that well-known either. There’s no other criteria. Launching a new rapper's career is like collectively trying to lift your friend up. It’s a big challenge. How will this roster create something that has a selling value and aesthetics? I’m about to release stuff from Pubriot, Eviction, and Bankshot. But has anyone ever heard of them? [Laughs].It's not complicated to make a new release. It's like “I have music, let me record it. Oh, it’s not too bad, let me distribute it." From there, other questions will surface like, “Who will buy it?," "Does it sound good?," "How many will I sell?," "Where will the artist perform?," and "How do I promote it?” You have to be self-aware of your strengths and hope. Other times, I just try to convince myself, to put something out—some of my friends will buy it and others can help promote it. Then I can make a music video. After releasing 17 albums, we understand that this music makes people feel a connection to the scene and a sense of collectivity, even though the market is small.What could help the hip-hop scene break out into the wider market here? How do we fix this distribution problem?
Maybe it's not a distribution problem. I think this sort of segmented distribution works. We just need more releases of remixes, mash-ups, instrumentals, and cuts. But I feel like the diversification of hip-hop is alive-and-well at the moment. Da Kriss and Densky already released some hip-hop instrumentals. Recently, Dangerdope released a beat tape sampling the movie Gejolak Kawula Muda. I’m also working on four remix albums, which I will put out as well.This interview has been translated and edited for length and clarity.
"The Road" is a series by VICE x Tokopedia that presents profiles of seemingly "common" people who have the bravery to chase after their dreams despite doubts and obstacles, and who have become respected figures in their own field. #MulaiAjaDulu