Bringing Indonesian hip-dut to Australia, Tenxi performs at Sydney's SXSW 2025

Tenxi, the Indonesian musician known to go viral for his work combining the hip-hop genre with dangdut, enlivened Sydney's SXSW stage. How is his journey from a small town of Sidoarjo to international stages?

Indonesian hip-dut artists Tenxi, Jemsii & Naykilla at SXSW Sydney 2025. Credit: SBS Indonesian

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Bringing Indonesian hip-dut to Australia, Tenxi performs at Sydney's SXSW 2025

SBS Indonesian

09:09Indonesian

Joan Pasha Syahputra—famously known as Tenxi—started making music in 2016 while he was still in high school in Sidoarjo in East Java, Indonesia. He admitted dangdut was not his favorite genre of music at the time.

His first work is in the realm of hip-hop RnB, titled Dedicated. Tenxi said that he loved hip-hop music but dangdut “was always there”.

Together with Jemsii and Naykilla, Tenxi popularised the genre of Hip-Dut—which combines hip hop and dangdut—and became a viral phenomenon on social media. The single 'Garam dan Madu'—or 'Salt and Honey'—gained two million views within two days of its release on YouTube in December 2024.

I was expecting big, but not this big.

Tenxi

Tenxi, seen here with Naykilla, on the SXSW Sydney 2025 stage. Credit: SBS Indonesian

To SBS Indonesian, Tenxi shared on how his musical journey begins, his encounters with Jemsii and Naykilla, to their appearances on several international stages.

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