Dangdut
Dangdut gets its name from the sound produced by the tabla (a pair of drums from India), which articulate the key rhythm of the music on the fourth and first pulses of the basic meter (thus, dang-dut). Many of the style’s qualities are drawn from music played by the orkes melayu, mainly kroncong pop of the 1960s, with its Indian and Arabic influences. Many melayu artists, including Elvy Sukaesih (b. 1951), the “Queen of Dangdut,” performed light and lyrical songs in the new style, but others found that the energy of rock music necessitated a harder edge. Essential to the development of this new rock-oriented form was Rhoma (formerly Oma) Irama (b. 1946), known as the “King of Dangdut.”