Music of Malaysia - Pop

Pop

Malaysia's pop music scene developed from traditional asli (pure) music popularized in the 1920s and 1930s by Bangsawan troupes. These troupes are in fact a type of Malaysian opera influenced by Indian opera at first known as Wayang Pasir (Persia) which was started by rich Persians residing in India. They portrayed stories from diverse groups such as Indian, Western, Islamic, Chinese, Indonesian and Malay. Music, dance, and acting with costumes are used in performance depending on the stories told. The musicians were mostly local Malays, Filipinos and Guanis (descendants from Gua in India).

One of the earliest modern Malay pop songs was "Tudung Periok", sung by Momo Latif, who recorded it in 1930. In the 1950s, P.Ramlee became the most popular Malay singer and composer with a range of slow ballads such as "Azizah", "Dendang Perantau" and the evergreen "Di Mana Kan Ku Cari Ganti".

In the mid-1990s, Dangdut experienced a resurgence after lying dormant since the early 1980s with the debut of Amelina. Her least successful album sold in the 100,000s, a feat that is yet to be repeated in the 2010s. Composer Ruslan Mamat, who pioneered the modern Dangdut, credited Ace of Base for the tempo reference.

Contemporary pop music exchanges between Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei are normal since these countries share the Malay language. Pop singer Siti Nurhaliza for example is famous in all four countries.