It would not be appropriate for us to bring you back #NEIGHBOURTUNES Throwback Thursday edition without mentioning one of the most influential musicians in the 90s, Iwa K. Born with birth name Iwa Kusuwa on October 25th 1970, he is probably the first successful Indonesian rapper and hip hop artist that could bring this black dominated genre music into the Indonesian society. The man himself was born in Bandung, West Java and begin his musical career in the late 1980s. As far as we can remember, he is also the first Indonesian rapper to have released a full-length album called “Ku Ingin Kembali”, part of his collaboration with Guest Music Production under record label Musica Studio’s. The album was well-known at that time with hit single “Ku Ingin Kembali” and “Batman Kasarung”.
A year later, Iwa K decided to dropped another album called “Topeng”. This album become an instant classic among the Indonesian hip hop community and music enthusiast in general as he released the first single called “Bebas”. The official music video for the song was also directed by the talented Rizal Mantovani and Richard Buntario plus features few famous Indonesian artists at the time. As you might know today, this single also named as one of the 150 Indonesia Best Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone Indonesia magazine. Aside from it, “Topeng” also offers several musics with social-themed lyrics.
As for his third album “Kramotak!”, it was released back in 1996 as part of his third collaboration with Guest Music Production under record label Musica Studio’s. The entire sounds in this album tend to be way more harder that his previous artworks. The main single “Nombok Dong!” has also been known to the young generations of the 90s as the sports anthem for basketball game in Indonesia. As quoted by the fans, “This is one of the most recognized rap songs in Indonesia during the 90s. The song is an ode from rapper Iwa K for basketball, while the lyrics somehow try to compare the difficulties that the athletes must face in the basketball court with life in general.” The talented rapper also decided to used his new identity and logo.
In short, Iwa K is truly a pioneer in Indonesian hip hop music scene and since his successful career in 1990s, he has become an icon of the nation’s hip hop music genre. Although he began his musical career in the late 1980s, he is still be remember as the first Indonesian rapper to have released a full-length album and also the best selling Indonesian rapper to date. Iwa has won an Indonesian Music Award for Best Rap Performance in 1999 and currently works as music artist and local radio announcer. For more information about his music career and songs, please follow his Twitter account here.