Catapulted by the portable, inexpensive, and easily pirated medium of the audiocassette, the sound of dangdut traveled far beyond its point of production in Jakarta and Surakarta recording studios. Stories about dangdut as the blood, soul, and voice of Indonesians proliferated during the s. But the songs were original Melayu [Melayu asli]. They played dance music, but photos from the period do not show people dancing. He countered these types of narratives with optimistic messages.
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