J

AKARTA: Indonesian rapper and hip-hop artist Young Lex was excited to be one of the performers at the recent 11th Annual Music Matters Festival in Singapore.

“We’re there to prove that Indonesian music artists are just as good as other countries’. I’m proud to be part of it,” he said in a release on Thursday.

This year, the largest indie music festival in Asia held from Sept. 12 to 15 also invited musicians from New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

Besides Young Lex, other Indonesian artists performing at the festival were award-winning singer Raisa, actor and musician Aliando and ballad trio The Overtunes.

Young Lex, the stage name for Samuel Alexander Pieters, was known as a YouTube artist who had been included in the “10 Indonesian hip-hop influencers” list made by Rolling Stone Indonesia.

The 23-year-old got popular with his song “Ini Gaya Gue” (This My Style), a remake of which was arranged by senior rapper Iwa K to be included on the soundtrack of King of Rock City (2013), the first Indonesian hip-hop film.

“The festival is a prestigious event and it has become my first step to outreach to an international audience.” — JP