Ramengvrl

The development of digital streaming platforms like YouTube, Spotify and Jukebox has allowed musicians all over the world to grow their fan base and audience without having to produce physical copies.

In the era of smartphones and easy internet access, physical copies have become less appealing for today’s young listeners who have become more digital savvy than previous generations.

Combining digital streaming platforms and social media also give musicians free publicity if they manage to get enough buzz to become a trending topic.

In Indonesia, rapper Putri “Ramengvrl” Soeharto and singer Monica Karina are examples of artists who manage to fully utilize digital streaming platforms to gain popularity among the youth and pop culture fans.

Using the power of social media and streaming platforms, Ramengvrl, who used to work a regular corporate job, managed to list her single “CA$HMERE” at number two for most added hip-hop songs and at number 23 for most added songs in the United States radio airplay rankings.

As for Monica, her collaboration with music producer Dipha Barus on her single “Money Honey” managed to reach over 5 million streams on various digital streaming platforms. This earned her a nomination as Best Newcomer for the 2018 Indonesian Music Academy (AMI) Awards.

The success of Ramengvrl and Monica proves just how powerful online streaming can be because it allows independent musicians to do practically anything -- from showcasing their work to collaborating with big names in the entertainment industry.

As a follow-up to their initial success, Ramengvrl and Monica recently released their new singles under the Juni Records label.

Ramengvrl’s new single “WACHU MEAN” was released through various digital platforms on Sept. 7.

She said she was pretty confident that her new single would be a worthy follow-up to “CA$HMERE”. On it, she experimented with her music by introducing new sound elements while staying true to her writing method, which is inspired by her daily life.

“This song is a real-life story about people who came up to me, acting all nice but with hidden motives and talking about me behind my back,” Ramengvrl said.

She added that “WACHU MEAN” would be the first of three upcoming singles under the Juni Records label this year.

Meanwhile, Monica’s new single “Skin to Skin”, which was released on Aug. 31, was also done in collaboration with Dipha.

“I try to explain how an experience turned into something memorable in the life of a girl with this song,” Monica said.

Unlike Ramengvrl, however, she did not set a target to release any new singles this year. Instead, she decided to take a break after releasing “Skin to Skin”.

— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

— Photos courtesy of Juni Records

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