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How singer Tiara Andini went from playing to no one to gaining 100 million streams
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Simply complicated: On her debut, pop singer Tiara Andini's tries to showcase her musical influences. (Courtesy of Winston Gomez/Universal Music Indonesia) (Universal Music Indonesia/Winston Gomez)
T
iara Andini's self-titled debut aims to showcase her emotional depth and potential as a songwriter. The singer gives The Jakarta Post an exclusive first listen.
Since her debut single "Gemintang Hatiku" (The Gleam in My Heart) in February 2020, Tiara Andini has proven herself ready for the mainstream, winning two Anugerah Musik Indonesia (AMI) Awards, one Mnet Asian Music Award, one JOOX Indonesia Music Award, one duet EP and an overall discography that has amassed more than 100 million plays on Spotify alone.
When The Jakarta Post caught up with the 20-year-old Jember native from East Java, the first thing she highlighted was the fact that there was no such thing as instant success.
"People might say that my career is only a year and a half old, but the truth is, I have been working for 15 years," she explained. "Before I became an entertainer, I tried to build a career as a singer in Jember, though the difference was no one knew me back then. I didn't have a lot of gigs and the pay wasn't much. Still, as time went on, I was willing to grow and develop and make mistakes. And I was not afraid of failure. After all, there is no such thing as sweat that tastes sweet."
All the more reason why her self-titled debut album, which drops on Dec. 17, is not seen by Tiara as another mark on a checklist, but instead, the ripe fruit of her long-standing labor. Consisting of eight tracks, the album finds the singer reuniting with frequent collaborators and tapping uncharted creative territory with new ones.
Loving the pressure
Tiara found her life changing pretty drastically when she competed in the talent show Indonesian Idol in 2019, from which she came out as the runner-up. Besides fame, she also picked up a lesson or two about pressure and public expectations.
