5 Indonesian Musicians Who Are Going Worldwide

05 May 2021

Hello, my fellow Binusian! How are you doing? I hope you all are doing great just like I do. You’ve all probably been wondering, “Hey, writer! I’ve been listening to Indonesian music, but is there any local musician who’s going international?” do not worry about it my friend, you have a big YES on your question, and it’s not only one musician but many of them. Being a musician can be such a hell of a journey, you have to go all the way from the beginning, starting from training your vocal, establish a mental, and look for the platform or agencies. But these musicians that I’m going to talk about, succeed in doing so, and all of the youngsters around the world are jamming to their songs until this day. “Hey Writer, you’re talking too much! Just tell us who they are already!” alright alright, keep calm, will you? I’m going to tell you something, you all have probably seen them already, but that was when they were not as famous as right now. And now, let’s move on to the first one!

1.Agnez Mo

Born in Jakarta on 1st July 1986 having the original name of Agnes Monica Suljoto. Well, I guess you can say that this woman is a living legend, seeing her singing back when I was still in elementary school. Agnez Mo started her career when she’s 6 years old as a newcomer singer and recorded her first album called “Si Meong”. Her career started to rise after releasing her second album called “Yess!” featuring Eza Yayang in 1995. Having a mountain of achievements, makes her go international and start to spread his name across the world. Some of her best appearances are featuring Keith Martin, Chris Brown, Timbaland.

2.Niki Zefanya

Moving onto the next one, we got my girlfriend— I mean my favorite musician of this era. Born in Jakarta on 24th January 1999 having the original name of Nicole Zefanya. She’s better known by her stage name “NIKI”. She started her career back in 2014 and released a single under Sony Music named “Awali Hari Dengan Cinta”. She won The Cornetto Road to Fame and succeeded in getting a chance as the opener on Taylor Swift’s “The Red Tour” in 2014. Moved to Nashville in 2017 to continue her college and finally started a YouTube channel to post her cover songs. Due to her tremendous work, 88rising saw her potential and pulled her in along with some big names in it. Her best hits until this day are “lowkey, La La Lost You” and many more.

3.Rich Brian

Well, I think you all already know who’s our homeboy right here. Born in Jakarta on 3rd September 1999 having the original name of Brian Imanuel Soewarno. We know him by his stage name “Rich Brian” as he already makes it worldwide. Brian really got his turning point when he first released the single “Dat $tick” back in 2016, but all big names don’t always start shine at first. He started his career as a musician when he uploaded a song “Living the dream” on his YouTube channel, a year after that “Dat $tick” dropped. Before changing his name to Rich Brian, the rapper’s name was Rich Chigga, due to the sensitivity within the name he changed it. Having the same label as Niki Zefanya under 88rising, made the Indonesian really proud of his achievement, also it makes the country more known across the world.

4.Stephanie Poetri

We are nearing the end, hitting the number four of the list. Born in Jakarta on 20th May 2000 having the original name of Stephanie Poetri Dougherty. Just in case you didn’t know yet , Stephanie is the daughter of Indonesian singer Titi DJ. Started her career on Indonesian Idol Junior and involved in several projects, including making soundtrack for movies. Stephanie’s first single is called “Appreciate” as the beginning of her long journey, and she gets bigger when her song “I Love You 3000” that was inspired by the movie Avengers: Endgame drops in 2019. Later, you know that Stephanie is also under the same label as Rich Brian and Niki Zefanya. I wish that Stephanie could see her ex striving to write this article right now. I’m joking, don’t get mad at me!

5.Weird Genius

Last but not least, the mighty newcomer that hits the EDM World and succeeds in making it to Times Square’s billboard in New York. Consist of 3 members with different backgrounds, and I’m going to elaborate on each of them. The left one is Gerald, born in Jakarta on 10th February 1996 having the original name of Gerald Liu. The middle one is Eka Gustiwana, born in Jakarta on 1th August 1989. And the right is Reza Oktovian, born in Jakarta on 15th October 1987, people usually called him “Arap”. Gerald and Eka almost came from the same background, they are good at composing and making music, but Eka started most of his career on YouTube. Unlike Gerald, Arap and Eka came from the same platform which united them together. Arap started his career back in the day as a gaming Youtuber and succeeded in winning the most popular Indonesian gaming channel in Night Award TV Asia in 2016. Weird Genius’ best early hit was “Lunatic” which featured Letty, an Indonesian local singer. Continuing their success, Weird Genius made several collaborations and the most shocking of it all was with world-popular DJ, Yellow Claw.

Editor: Clara Nathania & Ahmad Fikri Adzhani

References :

  • Amdani, S. (2019, May 10). Profil Singkat Stephanie Poetri Dougherty, Putri Titi DJ yang Wajahnya Mirip Kareena Kapoor. Tribunnews.com. https://www.tribunnews.com/seleb/2019/05/10/profil-singkat-stephanie-poetri-dougherty-putri-titi-dj-yang-wajahnya-mirip-kareena-kapoor.
  • Berita Hari Ini. (2020, June 9). Profil Anggota Weird Genius, Pencipta Lagu Lathi. kumparan. https://kumparan.com/berita-hari-ini/profil-anggota-weird-genius-pencipta-lagu-lathi-1tZyLYo7xmL.
  • Berita Hari Ini. (2021, January 17). 5 Fakta Niki Zefanya, Penyanyi Indonesia Sahabat Lisa Blackpink. kumparan. https://kumparan.com/berita-hari-ini/5-fakta-niki-zefanya-penyanyi-indonesia-1uzmeluPFaB.
  • Karibo, A. (2020, November 11). 8 Fakta Menarik Agnez Mo, Mantan Artis Cilik yang Miliki Kekayaan Melimpah. fimela.com. https://www.fimela.com/news-entertainment/read/4405579/8-fakta-menarik-agnez-mo-mantan-artis-cilik-yang-miliki-kekayaan-melimpah.
  • Pangerang, A. M. K. (2020, March 3). Profil Rich Brian, Rapper Indonesia yang Mendunia. KOMPAS.com. https://entertainment.kompas.com/read/2020/03/03/191829066/profil-rich-brian-rapper-indonesia-yang-mendunia.
Arif Faadhilah