Inul Daratista is a dangdut

Dangdut

Dangdut is a genre of Indonesian popular music that is partly derived from Malay, Arabic, and Hindustani music. It developed in the 1970s among working-class Muslim youth, but beginning in the late 1990s reached a broader following in lower class Indonesians, Malaysia, and the southern...

 singer and performance artist from Pasuruan

Pasuruan

Pasuruan is a city and regency of East Java, Java....

, East Java

East Java

East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and islands to its east and to its north East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. Her husband's name is Adam Susilo. She became nationally famous in 2003, and is known for her suggestive style of dancing that has caused major controversy in Indonesia. Inul is a corrupted version of Ainur, and the singer's childhood pet name. As she began her musical career singing in a 'rock' band, she adopted the stage name Daratista.

Inul Daratista rose to national fame after a televised January 2003 concert in Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

. Her dance moves, which she calls Goyang Inul or Ngebor (lit. 'drilling'), quickly became the source of controversy due to her gyrating hip motions. Some conservative Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 organizations such as the Indonesian Muslim Council (MUI) called for a ban on her concerts. She was cited as a reason to pass a national anti-pornography

Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

 bill that was drafted during the height of the controversy in mid-2003, but as of 2005 has not passed. Inul's dance style was also criticised by other dangdut singers, most vocally Rhoma Irama

Rhoma Irama

Raden Irama , most commonly known as Rhoma Irama, is an Indonesian dangdut musician and occasional actor...

, for "corrupting" the genre, though these criticisms did little to dent her popularity.

External links

• "Inul's Rules", TIME
• "Hips Don't Lie: A pop singer and a potentially violent culture war in the world's biggest Muslim state.", "The Wall Street Journal", April 3, 2007