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20 questions with Raisa
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Private emotions: The front cover of Raisa's new album 'It's Personal (The Album)', which was released on March 17. (Courtesy of Juni Records) (Courtesy of Juni Records/Courtesy of Juni Records)
'20 questions' is a new Q&A column in which we talk to the country’s most intriguing individuals — from artists, celebrities, academics and activists to leaders, industry players and "regular" people with notable achievements.
The multi-hyphenate artist Raisa couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when The Jakarta Post caught up with her on March 17 — the same day she dropped her fourth full-length album It's Personal (The Album) on digital platforms. After multiple delays and various hindrances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the long-overdue expansion of her 2021 EP It's Personal has finally seen the light of day. Asked about what the release of The Album and the year 2022 mean to her, she said: "In a lot of ways, I feel like I'm back," declared the 31-year-old singer-songwriter.
"There were lots of headaches in the past," she continued, laughing. "[Because of the pandemic] I questioned what I should do and what kind of person I had become, both in my professional and personal lives. That said, music is something I know. It's a world I have become very familiar with over the last 10 years: dropping an album, performing live gigs and such."
Answering The Jakarta Post's 20 questions, Raisa weighed in on the journey of recording The Album, her proudest lyrics, her current perspective on fame and how she felt about the idea of taking a hiatus.
It's Personal EP is the first extended play to win an Anugerah Musik Indonesia [AMI] Award for Best of the Best Album. You were visibly taken aback when you went up to the podium to accept the award. Do you still remember what was going through your mind at that time?
I was amazed to the core! I noticed that "Bahasa Kalbu" [the 2020 remake of Titi DJ's song of the same title, featuring composer Andi Rianto] was a big hit and people responded to that song warmly, so I felt like my chance of winning a trophy was kind of 50-50. Still, I thought it was impossible for the EP to win [Best of the Best Album] because it was merely a half portion of an album! Also, it's difficult to measure what constitutes a successful record nowadays. If we look at the data and the views and such, the EP wasn't exactly a "viral" record.
It seems like that award gave a sort of validation: that an EP is as good as a full-length album. Do you feel there is still value to the LP concept in the current musical climate?
