ISLAMIC POPULISM IN JASON RANTI’S SONGS, KAFIR (2016) AND DOA SEJUTA UMAT (2017)

Abstract

This article examines two songs by Jason Ranti, titled Kafir (2016) and Doa Sejuta Umat (2017). Both songs express criticism towards Islamic populism in Indonesia, which reaches its culmination point post the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election. This research utilizes “close reading” to scrutinize the dictions and phrases in the lyrics of Jason Ranti’s songs. This research also uses the concept of Islamic populism by Vedi Hadiz (2014) to investigate the lyrics. The result shows that Islamic populism in the two songs is conveyed through two attributes, namely exclusivism and majority domination that deny the basic human rights of individuals and minority groups, and both had perpetuated horizontal conflicts. The lyrics also address the issue of dichotomization that divides groups into binary oppositions which results in intimidation and coercion of moral values based on specific religious beliefs. The depiction of horizontal conflicts in both songs is understood as Jason Ranti’s way of criticizing the majority group in the midst of repressive Islamic populism in Indonesia.