FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Rand Slam and Senartogok Make 'Malam Minggu' Cool Again

The duo reclaim "Saturday night" from the dark recesses its rap-rock past.

The phrase "malam minggu" is something of an embarrassment for the Indonesian hip-hop community. Or at least it was, until Rand Slam came along.

Seventeen years ago, a bunch of guys from Jakarta who went by the name 7 Kurcaci (7 Dwarves) released a single called "Malam Minggu" (Saturday night). The song was a terrible ripoff of Significant Other era Limp Bizkit complete with nonsense lyrics like "Walking together, holding hands / Glance to the left while glancing to the right." (How is that even possible?)

Advertisement

7 Kurcaci did capture the mood of the time and managed to get pretty big. I even like to think they inspired Sum 41's video "In Too Deep"—a guitar solo in the middle of a pool? 7 Kurcaci did it first.

But the song itself did nothing for me. 7 Kurcaci's "Malam Minggu" left me traumatized and cynical about any rap song that dared to mention Saturday night in one of their songs. Thankfully, that cynicism has started to finally fade thanks to Rand Slam's very different song titled "Malam Minggu."

Rand Slam, of Papua, is one of the hottest new rappers in Indonesia. And he managed to put a fresh spin on the phrase "malam minggu" with skillful wordplay and smart producing from Senartogok. The single samples an Irish-sounding folk song that's actually taken from Jogja's own Gerap Gurita.

It's difficult to get into what makes the wordplay so good here because it's in Bahasa Indonesia and translations just don't do it justice. You'll just have to take my word for it. But I dare you to find another song that references Friday prayers, The Cure, and famed Indonesian author Iwan Simatupang in the space of two lines.

Rand Slam is quickly becoming the only name to watch in Indonesian hip-hop. His debut full-length Rimajinasi is due out this July. If it's as good as this song then I think we all have something to look forward to.