Indonesian Trio Weird Genius made up of YB, Eka Gustiwana and Gerald Gerald are among the biggest it gets in their homeland. The group have played some of the nations top festivals and clubs and clocked up tens of millions of streams along the way. Coming fresh off the back of a performance at the Billboard Indonesia Music Awards they have struck gold with their first release of the year, ‘LATHI’.
The new single is an ode to the sounds of Java, and it features singer and rapper from Surabaya, Sara Fajira. In a short time, the track has ascended to the top of the charts taking the #1 place on Spotify, YouTube, iTunes, Apple Music and TikTok, collecting more than 30 million plays in total. It follows on from their 2019 success ‘Peanut Butter’ but on this one, they steer their sound into a bassy club driven sound and it’s been gaining attention from all corners of the globe.
On LATHI they embody Javanese culture through both instrumentation choice, as well as a bridge using Javanese lyrics. “The production & recording process for this one was quite fast, the lyrics are inspired by personal experiences that many couples might have experienced. Musically, we balance EDM drops which work for our sets with modern pop and traditional culture from Javanese instruments and lyrics, “ explains Weird Genius.
The lyrics of this song speak of a love relationship full of lies and egos that ‘says’ love but only hurts. Despite exploring the dark side of a relationship, upbeat music and honest lyrics bring the meaning of courage and a strong will in the face of ‘a toxic relationship’.
Described in a piece of Javanese lyrics “Kowe ra iso mlayu saka error. Ajining myself an ing lathi “, meaning” You cannot run away from mistakes. A person’s self-esteem is on the tongue (his words) “, taken from the old Javanese proverb “Ajining soko lathi, ajining rogo soko busono.”
‘LATHI’ is available via download and streaming on all digital music platforms, and having already been featured in New Music Friday playlists it’s only just getting started.
