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