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For some, music is a force for change
As the country faces a tumultuous state, a discussion featuring musicians and activists concludes that songs are a powerful force for change against injustice.
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Dual commitment: Usman Hamid, best known as the executive director of human rights group Amnesty International Indonesia, belts out a tune he wrote for his band Usman and the Blackstones during an event to celebrate International Record Store Day in South Tangerang on April 13, 2025. (Usman and the Blackstones/-)
D
uring the weekend celebration of International Record Store Day, a crowd huddled in front of the local vinyl store PHR Bintaro in South Tangerang on Sunday afternoon, waiting for an opening performance by the band Usman and the Blackstones.
The band just released their album Bumi dan Aku Kini (The Earth and I now) in vinyl and CD formats, containing songs of activism aimed toward the world’s degrading environmental and political state. The tracks, they noted, are a form of “creative expression in a repressive era”, not only in Indonesia but also across the world.
Human rights advocates in Indonesia have warned of a democratic backslide in recent years, in line with the many protests popping up throughout the country against government policies that the public has deemed “unconstitutional” or that do not serve the people’s best interest.
Usman Hamid, frontman of Usman and the Blackstones, is better known as the executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia. However, he jokingly claimed that he was “not a real musician”.
Yet the band’s rock songs struck a chord with the audience, partly due to its lyrics of resistance against injustices faced by the residents of Papua, Rempang and other parts of the country.
“Ever since I was little, I’ve always believed in music’s power as a force to bring about change,” Usman said during his performance.
Several prominent musicians known for infusing social commentary into their music attended the vinyl launch, including Herry “Ucok” Sutresna of the Bandung-based hip-hop collective Homicide, guitarist Reza Ryan of Jakarta’s Efek Rumah Kaca and I Gede Robi Supriyanto, frontman of the Denpasar-based grunge band Navicula.
