IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 International Journal of Humanity Studies http://e-journal.usd.ac.id/index.php/IJHS Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 164 MIGRATION AND THE MANGGARAIANS’ CULTURAL IDENTITY AS REPRESENTED IN MANGGARAIAN RAP SONGS Ans Prawati Yuliantari Universitas Katolik Indonesia Santo Paulus Ruteng, Indonesia tia.yuliantari@gmail.com DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/ijhs.2020.030203 received 5 November 2019; accepted 17 February 2020 Abstract Manggaraian rap songs have become one of the means to see the phenomenon of migration and the desire of the Manggarai people to maintain their cultural identity. Therefore, this study aims to find out why Manggarai people migrate and how they manage their cultural identity overseas. The concept of “rural idyll” suggested by Marc Mormont is used to understand the Manggaraians’ perspective on their home region, and the concept of identity as defined by Stuart Hall is used to examine the Manggaraians construe their cultural identity. This study is focused on 30 Manggaraian rap songs that feature migration and Manggaraian cultural identity as the themes of the lyrics. The study has led to the insight that the main reasons that motivate the Manggaraians to migrate are their desire to continue their education, find a better livelihood, gain new experiences in distant regions and look for better access and facilities that are unavailable in their home region to achieve their goals. The experience of living among people from many different cultures in distant regions confront them with the need to maintain their cultural identity and contact with their home region. To fulfil this need, they make attempts of revitalizing Manggaraian traditional values that they are familiar with throughout their growing-up years in Manggarai. Keywords: migration, cultural identity, rap, Manggarai Introduction Migration is a geographical mobility that has been caused by economic, social, political and cultural factors. Some other reasons why people decide to migrate are infrastructure development, information technology advancement and suggestions from the people in the prospectus migrants’ social environment. Migration has been defined as “a movement of people within national boundaries” (Gottdiener & Budd, 2005, p. 60). This definition refers to what is called internal migration which are undertaken either to move permanently or temporarily, including long-distance commute that is also known as “circular migration” (Samers, 2010). Some Manggaraian migrants from Nusa Tenggara Timur are temporal migrants, and some others are permanent migrants. The majority of them move from rural areas to the nearby urban areas. The rest of them take on longer- distance migration by moving to big cities outside Flores such as Makassar, mailto:tia.yuliantari@gmail.com IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 165 Jakarta, Surabaya and Yogyakarta. Some portrayals of migration by the Manggaraians that give some account of why and how it is undertaken can be found in some products of Manggaraian popular culture. The most interesting ones are arguably Manggaraian rap songs. Rap has become a popular musical genre in Manggarai since the 2000s (Allin, 2012; Bell, 2017). Like American rap, Manggaraian rap features perspectives on and images of various economic, political, social and cultural issues in the society where it originated. Thus, Manggaraian rap songs specifically present images about the Manggaraians in both their home region and foreign regions. Many of Manggaraian rappers write lyrics that talk about the causes and the effects of migration they have undertaken and Manggaraians’ motivations to do so. Their lyrics reveal several problems that Manggaraian migrants generally encounter in their various endeavors that are mostly related to conficts stemming from cultural identity crisis while living outside their place of origin. Based on the migration-related phenomena presented above, the present study seeks to answer the following questions: (1) What reasons that have motivated some Manggaraians to migrate? and (2) How do Manggaraian migrants perceive their cultural identity? Through a critical discussion focusing on the two subjects represented by these research questions, this article attempts to offer an insight about the general motivations behind Manggaraian migrants’ decision to move out of their home region and the ways it affects their perception of their cultural identity through a close reading and interpretation of Manggaraian rap songs as part of this ethnic group’s popular culture. Method Manggaraian rappers’ creative exploration of their sociocultural circumstances in producing their music is influenced by their perspective on their origin in the agrarian society of Manggarai and on the urban environment they have migrated to. Their conception of geographical environments reflects their cultural identity. To have a critical understanding of the Manggaraians’ perspective on their place of origin, a concept called “rural idyll” is used as a reference in discussing it. The concept, which was suggested by Marc Mormont, stands for an image of rural areas as a peaceful, tranquil and simple environment (Woods, 2011). The Manggaraians’ perception of cultural identity is elucidated through its correspondence with the conception of cultural identity posited by Stuart Hall (Morley, 2019) as follows. “Essentially, it is assumed that cultural identity is fxed by birth, part of nature, imprinted through kinship and lineage in the genes, constitutive of our innermost selves. It is impermeable to something as “worldly,” secular, and superfcial as temporarily moving one’s place of residence.” (p. 208) In general, the Manggaraians’ migration is motivated by economic, social and cultural circumstances that make it necessary for them to leave their home region and move to various other regions in Indonesia. Be that as it may, all Manggaraian migrants wish to go back to their place of origin no matter how long they have been away from it. This disposition can be seen as an important fact with which the lyrics of Manggaraian rap songs that talk about hometown and life in foreign places can be analysed. IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 166 This study in this article is focused on 30 Manggaraian rap songs which were selected for their themes that present some of the Manggaraians’ perspectives on migration and their cultural identity. Findings and Discussion Based on Jilis Verheijen’s account of the Manggaraians (Hagul & Lana, 1989), there have been sigificant sociocultural changes in Manggaraian society’s life since the 1950s, and half of them is essential part of its structure. These changes are associated with the rapid development of infrastructure in rural areas such as improvments in roads and electricity networks during the REPELITA IV (5-Year Development Plan IV) period under the New Order administration in Indonesia (Webb, 1994). The impacts of improved availability of road access and electricity are, among others, an increase in population mobility and greater access to information from radio and television that has been available for people living in rural areas. This improvement in infrastructure is followed by improvement in the Manggaraians’ income from agriculture as a staple of their economy since they are supported by better means of distributing their produce to their consumers, better access to healthcare services which are mostly available in the cities, and easier access to consumptive goods. However, along with the abovementioned impacts, influences from the outside are increasing. Income improvement has apparently led to higher consumption of non-necessity items such as electronic appliances and motor vehicles. Electronic appliances such as radio and television allow greater access to information, whereas motor vehicles make long-distance mobility easier, which means Manggaraians can now reach places that are too far without this kind of transportation. Television and radio broadcastings have reached audiences in many parts of Manggarai, and they have greatly affected the way Manggaraian people think about their land and other lands beyond their territory. On the one hand, exposure to more information from the outside provides Manggarai’s inhabitants with a lot of new knowledge that may contain ideas of ways of improving their livelihood such as educational information on agricultural technology, crop and cattle farming methods, land cultivation, seed selection and irrigation. In addition, the medicine for crops and high-quality seeds advertisements made by several agricultural stores in Ruteng can help local farmers improve their crop production. Information related to health and healthcare can help Manggaraian people improve their physical condition as well as learn to live healthier and therefore prevent themselves from catching various diseases. Broadcast such as radiogram from one of local radio stations has been a medium that connects Manggaraian families to various sources of information which were not available for them in the past because of geographical issue. On the other hand, the mass media also carry particular information that can possibly give them ideas of going to places they have never been before, which means media like TV channels and radio programs have the potential to encourage Manggaraian audiences to undertake geographical mobility to various regions through their visual and verbal messages. In short, the availability of modern infrastructure and transportation encourages mobility because they make it much more feasible. This phenomenon has something to do with a particular human tendency called social mobility. In the globalization era, a lot more people are motivated to engage in social mobility. IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 167 Anthony Giddens (2006) describes social mobility as a shift in an individual’s or group’s socioeconomic position. It is classified into two categories: vertical mobility and lateral mobility. Vertical mobility refers to one’s upward and downward movements in socioeconomic hierarchy when his/her social and economic status or position is increasing or decreasing respectively in terms of property ownership, annual income, or professional position. Lateral mobility is defined as geographical movement across different areas, regions, or countries. Motivations for doing the two kinds of mobility are connected to each other. Motivations behind an individual’s or a group’s decision to move out of their hometown or homeland are mostly economic. Moreover, as pointed out earlier, technology plays crucial role in the development of infrastructure and transportation and therefore contributes greatly to the increasing number of people being able to travel to different geographical territories. Discussions of migration and the social issues related to it are always multidimensional since migration’s causes and effects involve multifaceted reality of migrants’ life. Nikos Papastergiadis (2000), for example, argues that: “Migration must be understood in a broad sense. I see it not just as a term referring to the plight of the 'burnt ones', the destitute others who have been displaced from their homelands. It is also a metaphor for the complex forces which are integral to the radical transformations of modenity.” (p. 2). The key idea of Papastergiadis’ view quoted above that is relevant to the present study is that migration is the integral part of transformations of modernity. There have been many people migrating from their home region to another region with the hope of experiencing a more modern social environment than the one they were originated in. The most common cause of migration is economic factors such as higher minimum wage standard and greater job opportunity in various sectors in other regions compared to the ones in the migrants’ home regions. Another economic factor that has attracted many migrants is better public facilities and entertainment in those regions. Other than economic factors, one factor with major contribution to migration is close interpersonal relationship between migrants and prospective migrants that is closely related to migration chain effect (Brown, 1991). However, the existing conception of migration chain effect, which puts emphasis on economic factors as the main contributor to a region’s development, wage rate and job opportunity availability, is less relevant as an approach to observe the related phenomena in the third world. The conventional model of mobility in the third world countries is based on migrants’ role in suggesting migration to others by imparting information to their relatives and close friends about how their current place of living is different (and better) from the one in which they were born and grew up. A large number of people have followed their relatives’ or friends’ footsteps in migrating out of their home region. Nevertheless, the concept can be taken as a premise to shift the main emphasis on the powerful effect of the interpersonal communication between migrants and their relatives or friends in helping the incoming migrants settle down in the new place and adjust themselves in the new social environment. IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 168 Manggaraians’ mobility examined in the abovementioned context is closely connected to the important position of extended family in Manggaraian kinship (Allerton, 2004; Erb, 1999). It is to be expected that the Manggaraians’ migration destinations are the cities where Manggaraian communities exist in relatively large numbers such as Makassar, Jakarta, Malang and Yogyakarta. The strong bond between fellow Manggaraians is reflected in Manggaraian migrants’ feeling of obligation that they have to tell their relatives and friends in Manggarai about some promising job opportunities they have found in the city and provide temporary place to stay for the newly arrived Manggaraian migrants. For relatives or friends who come to visit them in the city, these migrants generally make some effort to make sure that they are well accommodated and looked after. From the perspective of Manggaraian culture, these favors they do are not merely a form of primordial solidarity. Their solidarity is an act of valuing the sense of kinship among the Manggaraians in their cultural territory that has been preserved through generations. A research conducted by L. A. Brown in Costa Rica revealed that kinship has greater influence than higher wage rate, job opportunity and other economic factors in various degrees from region to region (Brown, 1991). Urbanization is one of the common kinds of migration in this industrialization era. In Louis Wirth’s perspective, as quoted by Giddens (2006), urbanization is a lot more than the number of population recorded in statistics related to urban demography and the available employment opportunities for city dwellers. It involves urban environment with substantial impacts on human’s social life. City is the controlling center for economic, political and cultural dynamics that has always drawn people in remote areas to its orbit, and, as a result, brings together people of different bakgrounds and spheres of activity in a plural society (p. 898). In other words, the cities, as the center of governmental, social, economic and cultural activities, are a powerful magnet that can make people in its periphery come to experience its hustle and bustle. Wirth’s observation here can be taken as a reference to understand the mobility of Manggaraians from their villages to the cities in which the main offices of regional governments reside such as Ruteng, Labuan Bajo, Borong, as well as other cities outside Manggarai’s cultural territory. Most of Manggaraian migrants in these cities earn a living as small vendors, small retailers, bus conductors, drivers of public transportation and blue collar workers at a store or a market. Their motives range from finding a better livelihood to continue their education; and also from finding better public facilities to escaping a conflict with some people in their home village. It can be inferred that the bottom line of the Manggaraians’ motives is that they are encouraged to have social mobility by moving to big cities and participate in the modernity of urban life. Their perception that rural life is associated with traditionalism, underdevelopment and poverty has made them decide to move to big cities, either temporally or permanently. A work by Thomas Solomon (2005) on Istanbul as a migration destination is one of the studies that reveal the appeal of experiencing modernity as an influential factor in urbanization. Solomon describes that many people from the rural areas on the city outskirt want to participate in the transformation process into modernity in Istanbul that is supported by the government. Another work about the similar phenomenon was written by Arun Saldana (2002), presents a IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 169 portrayal of urban life in Bangalore that is characterized by modernity and superfluity; two qualities that have attracted many people outside its territory to move in as their effort to make a better life and, along the way, be part of modern urban life. Likewise, cities in western Flores, where regional government offices are located, have been attracting people in adjacent areas to visit or move into them to experience life with better availability of public facilities and more advanced infrastructure. Those cities also offer more diverse job vacancies than rural areas do, and therefore, they attract more job seekers than rural areas do. Nonetheless, urban modernity and higher diversity of job opportunities are not a guarantee of higher wage rate. In fact, most of the migrants that chose to survive in urban areas did so more because of the wide range of facilities those places can offer than the amount of wages they can take from their jobs. Furthermore, although cities in Manggarai territory are not as big and vibrant as the ones in Java, they are still better developed compared to the areas in their neighborhood. Tourism development in Labuan Bajo and municipal development in Borong for instance have been a big enough appeal for businessmen who want to expand their businesses or even moved in there. These business people and investors contribute to the increasing number of new settlers and the growth of non-agricultural economic sectors. The growing economy is followed with the growing number of businesses leading to the higher employment rate, particularly for manual workers or domestic workers. This higher employment rate in non- agricutural sector, in turn, encourages population mobility. Based on the data from the Center Bureau of Statistics (BPS) of Kebupaten Manggarai, the sub-district or kecamatan with the highest number of immigrants is Kecamatan Langke Rembong in which Ruteng, the capital city of Manggarai, is located. In 2009, the number reached 2045 (BPS Kabupaten Manggarai, 2009). Although the data on the regions where the migrants in the kecamatan come from has not been available, the statistics of its migrants suggests that the majority of people who have moved to Langke Rembong come from the rural areas in Manggarai. The data correspond to the statstics of workers in existing sectors that show increases annually. Moreover, the data from Economy Indicator of Kabupaten Manggarai show a decrease in workforce in agricultural sector from 34.23% in 2011 to 33.36% in 2013 and an increase in service and industrial sectors from 30.23% to 30.46% (BPS Kabupaten Manggarai, 2014). The data on labor composition indicate that there are more women workers than men workers. This composition can be seen as an indication that the number of men workers who have moved to another sector outside of their villages is increasing (pp. 12- 14). In terms of cultural environment, urban areas in Manggarai are not that different from rural areas in the same territory. The significant different is in the level of physical infrastructure and economic developements. Urban modernity supported by the two factors is embodied in items such as cellphones, well- provided electricity, motorbikes and cars. It is also represented in negative behaviors such as street races, conflicts with security guards, lack of empathy, money-oriented activities, lavish lifestyle and lack of respect for older people or senior relatives. IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 170 People migrating from rural areas to Ruteng commonly work or seek employment in service and industrial sectors. Many of them work as vendors and as manual workers for home industries or small businesses in Ruteng. The majority of migrant vendors sell daily needs such as food, foodstuff and fuel. Some of them have a stall in a market, and some others are mobile food vendors. Some of popular food products they sell are kompiang (one of Manggaraian traditional cookie covered with sesame seeds), toasted bread, cilok, and pia. Other foods that are commonly peddled, particularly by migrants from Java, are bakso (Indonesian meatballs) and mie ayam (Indonesian chicken noodle). Street peddlers usually sell their food by going from house to house, school to school, office to office, store to store, or several other places downtown where many people frequently gather. Foodstuffs that are peddled by many street vendors in Ruteng are vegetables and fruits. Most of these vendors are migrants from rural areas who usually get their goods from their home villages. Many of them have some relatives from their villages that supply the foodstuffs to them. Indeed, one of the reasons why these people are still regularly connected with their relatives in their home villages is that they have farmland or some productive land plots together to take care and whose produce is harvested for daily consumption and for sale. In that case, to do their business, these vendors engage in circular migration (Samers, 2010). They make regular travel between their villages and the city where they sell their goods weekly or more frequent than weekly. Their mobility is supported by rural public transport system that runs along various routes and enables them to reach Ruteng. Clearly, the villages where they come from are within commuting distance of the city. Some of them are located in Kecamatan Ruteng, Lelak, and Rahong Utara, which are less than 20 kilometers from Ruteng downtown. These rural areas and Ruteng are connected by trans-Flores road whose surfaces have been built with asphalt to make it possible for public transportion to run across it all round. Other important goods are fish. Supplies of fish and fish products are obtained from coastal areas such as Labuan Bajo and Reo. They are brought using containers and transported in pickup trucks that can access remote areas in the region. Fishermen sell their catch to several wholesaler or suppliers which mostly Madurese people who do their business in coastal areas. The majority of fish vendors in Ruteng either buy the fish directly from fishermen or from wholesalers. Much like vegetable and fruit vendors, fish vendors sell their goods either by peddling them from place to place or by running a stall in the market. The difference is that fish vendors are not commuters since they don’t have to go to their home villages to get the fish supply. Like fish vendors, kerosene and gasoline vendor in Ruteng are usually not commuters. Most of them are migrants from the neighboring areas of the city. Both fuel peddlers on the street and fuel retailers in the market are considered illegal fuel vendors. They make profit from the difference between fuel retail price and fuel price in gas station. Upon closer observation, there are several particular reasons why rural people engage in urbanization. The first one is the fact that it is easier to acquire cash from selling goods and services. Back in Manggaraian home villages, money is not the only means of exchange. Barter is even more common medium of exchange in Manggaraian rural economy. So, exchanging goods for other goods IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 171 as well as services for other services are common practices in there. They would exchange rice for coffee or corn for example, with an agreed quantity. Exchange using cash is commonly practiced when rural Manggaraians have to make a commercial deal with people from outside of their villages or when there are occasions where they have to make expenses on money such as make a donation for relatives who need financial support to hold a gathering or party, to seek medical treatment, to buy consumer goods, to purchase agricultural appliances and fertilizers, to pay their children’s tuition, to pay some household levies, or to pay certain taxes. When farmers need to make quick cash, they are compelled to sell their produce at a low price. Some of them even succumbed to middlemen who buy their produce in a very low price when they are in emergency for cash. Circumstances can go worse when crops price rate in general is dropping or when the farmers’ traditional cultivating method is unable to prevent crop failure. In that case, working in the city becomes a more reasonable option to make an income in cash that they can use for various purposes such as fulfilling their daily necessities, paying bills and many other household needs that cannot be meet by means of barter. The second reason for engaging in urbanization is the perception that they can have better chance of securing a regular income source, particularly monthly income. In fact, many rural Manggaraians feel that working in the city offers higher level of certainty than working in their home villages. There are challenges in being a traditional farmer in their village that they do not want to go through such as dependence on growing/planting seasons and the impact of weather condition on crops. Dramatic weather change may increase the risk of crop failure, and therefore, the level of harvest unpredictability from season to season is higher. Moreover, price fluctuation in agricultural markets in which middlemen take part has frequently made harvest season unprofitable. In some worst periods, they even experience depressing shortfall because the income from the harvest fails to compensate for the production expenses. So, being an unskilled worker or a vendor in the city is seen as an alternative income source with lower risk. It is because wage rate is usually set and peddling or retailing is easier than farming. They will not be burdened by obligation to pay for farm labor and to anticipate the possible crop failure. The third reason is that some Manggaraians are simply lack of resources to cultivate their farmlands. Hiring agricultural workers and providing means of production can be too costly. It is not to mention that fertilizers and medicine crop prices are on the rise. For these people, leaving farming for wage-paid jobs or peddling in big city is a reasonable decision. Some of them who have decided to move to the city permanently bring their whole family to live with them in their new place, while some others leave their family in their village to move into one of their relative’s place in the city. Manggaraians who do not bring their family to move to the city work to make money for supporting their family’s daily financial needs or agricultural needs to take care of their farm in their village. The fourth reason is the motivation to have a new or different life experience. Most of Manggaraian migrants with this impulse are young people. They are commonly tired of living a rural life where they have to work hard on farmland. Many of them have decided to leave their villages to work in the city as blue collar workers or ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers. Not only do they want to be able IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 172 to provide for themselves, they also want to enjoy many kinds of entertainment and modern lifestyle that urban life can offer. For them, ompared to the highly time-consuming and laborious work on farmland, wage-paid jobs in the city are more preferable. Big cities other than Ruteng which have been migration destinations for the Manggaraian are outside of Flores. Many young Manggaraians migrate to these cities to pursue higher education. The reason is apparently the inadequate educational support system in Flores, particularly in terms of quality and facilities. Young Manggaraians who migrate for the purpose other than continuing their education work in oil palm plantations in Kalimantan and Sumatra with the expectation that they will be paid higher than what they used to earn in their villages in Manggarai. In Manggarai, population mobility in general and urbanization in particular have caused a number of problems for inhabitants of both rural and urban areas. One of the problems is that the significant increase in the number of people migrating from villages to cities is followed by the increase in the workforce supply in urban areas. Surplus in labor supply, in turn, affect wage rate. In reality, most of workers coming from rural areas have not been paid according to the prevailing regional minimum wage. In most cases, the amount of wages paid is set based on the kind of job the worker is employed for and the period of his/her employment with the company or organization he/she has been working for. Wages are also varied from employer to employer although there is usually an agreed level of minimum wage among employers in the same region. It is not uncommon that employers hire certain individuals on the recommendation of their workers. This reality has something to do with the interpersonal affinity or kinship between migrants in the city and the prospective migrants discussed in the earlier part of discussion about the causes of population mobility (or social mobility) and urbanization (Brown, 1991). It is related to the concept of migration chain effect mentioned in the discussion in which migrants inform their relatives or friends in their home villages about urban life and better job opportunities they have enjoyed in the city. Moreover, the Manggaraians’ preference for moving to the city where their migrant relatives or friends have been in suggests that interpersonal affinity in the forms of kinship and friendship between people in different positions along the migration chain help the incoming migrants adapt to their new place. Migration chain that significantly contributes to urbanization in Manggarai not only serves as a support system for the prospective migrants, but also for Manggaraian migrant workers that have been in the city for some time. Manggaraian workers in the cities feel most comfortable in the company of their fellow Manggaraians because of their shared habits, sense of solidarity, and primordial camaraderie. The presence of these three factors here is capable of creating a metaphorical home that plays a role as a mental and emotional comfort for Manggaraian migrants while being away from home and being among people of various backgrounds. For employers, primordial friendship between their employees can be an advantage because workers with common backgrounds tend to create fewer conflicts than those with diverse backgrounds. These same-background workers can also help them find new recruits whenever necessary. However, the downside IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 173 of employing workers of the same background is that their friendship may become counterproductive to industrial work system. In cases where one of the Manggaraian workers resigns, for example, his/her fellow Manggaraian workers of the same background will follow suit to prove their solidarity especially when the resigning worker is a person whom they much respect. Likewise, when one of them asks for some days off to attend a traditional event in their home village, his/her Manggaraian friends may also do the same thing to attend the same event. In some cases, they do not even tell how long they will be off from work. They may or may not go back to work for certain considerations. Their time off may end in a resignation when, for example, their friends and relatives ask them to take a different job or work at different company or organization with them. Thus, different attitudes towards industrial work system between workers coming from rural areas and employers who are accustomed to urban way of life may create conflict between employers and their employees. Another problem that may create conflict between workers and employers is different work ethics between urban people who grew up in an industrial society (most employers) and rural people who grew up in an agricultural society (most employees). The most obvious indication is their difference in work pattern and work pace. The employer may think that rural people are lazy and tardy. Indeed, the wish to experience modernity has consequences. Georg Simmel, as quoted by Giddens (2006) suggests a concept called “mental life of the city”. The concept describes the ways the city shapes its inhabitants’ mentality by bombarding their mind with hundreds of images, impressions, sensations and diverse activities. In contrast, rural life is characterized with tranquility and slower life rhythm. In big cities, people are trying to protect themselves from potential criminal impulse in their social environment and distorted images of social reality by keeping their emotional distance with others and focusing only on what matters to survive in urban way of life. Giddens observes that this mental life of the city creates detached and lonely individuals (p. 896). According to Ferdinand Tönnies, urbanization is responsible for the diminishing gemainschaft or communities whose members are brought together by shared traditional values, strong solidarity, reliable interrelationship between friends and between individuals and environment and definite positions in society. Urban mentality has transformed gemeinschaft into gesellschaft. Gesellschaft refers to communities whose members’ relationship are transitory or instrumental in nature. Interpersonal relationship in this kind of community is built upon certain bakground and interests, and therefore, one’s position is valued according to the role he/she plays in society. In the two socilogists’ views, the cities are a place full of strangers (p. 896). It can be inferred that Brown, Simmel and Tönnies’s perspectives on urbanization are interrelated, particularly in providing a framework to explain the reality of Manggaraians’ social mobility and their involvement in urbanization. The transition they experence from rural life to urban life causes particular conflicts and challenges. To deal with this issue and to survive urban mental life, they rely on their friendship, solidarity and kinship with people of the same background. The incoming Manggaraians migrants adjust themselves to the new place under the guidance of and with the support from their relatives or friends who have migrated to the city before them. Being at later point in migration chain, IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 174 all they need to do is follow their predecessors’ lead to make their rural-to-urban transition much easier than that experienced by the pioneering migrants. The environment of modernity may also cause the feeling of uprootedness. The Manggaraians, who were born and grew up in an agrarian society, are so accustomed to a closely knit community that they need some time and efforts to adjust themselves to the industrial society which values individualism as the most important quality. This sociocultural discrepancy leads to the growing need for maintaining connection with the cultural origin among Manggaraian migrants in the cities so as to not lose their cultural identity (Yuliantari A. P., 2016); (Yuliantari, Adi, & Ganap, 2015). These mental tendencies are represented in Manggaraian rap music as creative part of the Manggaraians’ cultural narratives. The lyrics of Manggaraian rap songs express the struggle for preserving their cultural identity through criticisms on urban lifestyle such as the way city people dress, their dependence on sopisticated communication devices and social media, and the way boys and girls adopting kinds of attitudes they have learned from the mass media. These forms of criticism can be found in the lyrics of the following songs: “CBL” written by KBR community; “Alay” “ABG”, “Cewe Matre” and “Cewek Pantat Bensin Murahan” by MC Firman; “Leng Bail Umet” by Putra and Z-Lo MBC; and “Molas Gincu” by Ricky Radu. Manggaraian rappers’ criticisms are also targeted at rural people who prefer foreign cultures to their own culture. Criticism on this preference can be found in the lyrics of “Wa Mai Tana” and “Ruteng is Da City” written by Lipooz. The two songs present an image of Manggaraians who have lost respect or appreciation for their own tradition. They behave as if they have abandoned their identity as a member of Manggaraian culture. In short, the two songs are written to criticize some Manggaraians who try to adopt modern lifestyle at the cost of their Manggaraian identity. Some rappers express their cultural identity by writing songs that suggest images of rural life as compared to urban lifestyle. Their portrayals of countryside and rural life correspond to the description and conception of rural areas proposed by D. Stead (2002) and C. T. Stewart Jr. (1958). Rural area as a spatial setting is characterized by these features: the majority of its inhabitants are farmers, most part of their lands is cultivated as farmland, its population is relatively small, and public facilities and entertainment in there are relatively limited. Manggaraian rap songs that offer images of rural areas as a spatial setting are, among others, “Kador Neka Culas Bail” written by Vian Mahon, “Reggae Manggarai” by Dodi RBC, “Enu Molas Maras” by Rifand To’oz, “Molas Baju Wara” and “Hip Cha Cha” by Lipooz, “Leng Bail Umet” by Ricky MC (singers: Putra MBC dan Z-Lo MBC), and “Gaya di Enu Rimpet” by Ricki Radu. These rap songs give some perspectives on Manggaraians’ social reality and its various aspects. Some of them are conflicts among young Manggaraians, shift in social and cultural values causing by daily contacts with modern lifestyle mediated by the mass media, and Manggaraians’ geographical mobility from their countrysides to many different areas outside Manggarai. As argued by Marc Mormont (Woods, 2011), rural area or countryside as an abstract concept is represented in imaginations and interpretations that give certain meanings to a spatial setting, a natural environment and way of life. Manggaraian rappers who have been living in the city for some time express their IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 175 abstract ideas of the rurality of Manggarai in the lyrics of their songs. Their ideas reflect its image as a “rural idyll” by which Manggarai is perceived as a peaceful, tranquil and simple place, compared to the hustle and bustle of urban life. Some of the songs with this portrayal are “Ruteng is da City”, “Manggarai Kotaku Tercinta”, and “Ingin Kembali ke Kota Kecilku”. Songs with this kind of theme, according to Eliot in Kruse (2003), are written and rendered “to imagine a different way of living, or at least to minimize the burdens and oppressions of everyday life” (p. 156). Thus, the imagination of Manggarai as countryside in songs’ lyrics serves as an escape for these rappers from the complexity of urban life. Their songs are their way of reonstructing the rural idyll of their home villages and their expression of their longing for its tranquility and for the sense of kinship of its people. In essence, their lyrics suggest the contrasting mentality of urban and rural lives. Their village is a peaceful, hospitable and self-sufficient place they will always miss, whereas the city where earn a living is a demanding, tough, merciless and competitive place to work in. Manggaraian rap songs that emphasize this contrast are, among others, Vian Mahon’s “Boleng My Place” and “Ingin Kembali ke Kota Kecilku”, Dodi RBC’s “Aku Retang Bao” dan “Terbayang Reo Kota Kecil”, Boyz of West Manggarai’s “Tanahku Labuan Bajo”, and Arlan Colol’s “Manggarai Timur”. Manggaraian rap songs that focus on the fierce competition in the city and the struggle to survive it are Eman Tonjo’s “Gesar Dami Anak” dan “Lako Pala”. The songs’ lyrics picture the tough reality of living in the bic cities in which the available choice for the migrants who came to work in there without particular skills to offer is being a manual worker. Unlike urban life that put unskilled workers in hardship, rural life can give them a sense of kinship and contentment. So, what they later found is that although the limited job opportunities in their village have motivated them to move to the city, living in scarcity in there is more rewarding than living in poverty in the city without relatives and close friends to keep them company. The song titled “Gesar Dami Anak” for example, communicates that solidarity and harmony in rural areas are the support system that will always be cherished by Manggaraians who live far away from their home villages. Amity, peace and solidarity are the tradition and social setting that Manggaraian migrants are deprived of during their residency in the cities. The song titled “Naring Cama Ora Komodo” written by Z-Lo MBC and “Labuan Bajo” by Firman MC present another comparison between rural and urban areas in which the writers mention specific names of the regions the y talk about in the lyrics. These are the places that urban people are usually attracted to as destinations for vacation. The idyllic atmosphere of the places helps tourists take a break from the exhausting routine in the city. In “Labuan Bajo,” MC Firman describes that Labuan Bajo is so great that anyone who visits it would wish to never leave it. The lyrics also describe it as a rural area that can offer urban modernity to enjoy. Having been developed as a tourist destination, it has modern facilities such as that in the cities. Like “Labuan Bajo”, “Naring Cama Ora Komodo” by Z-Lo MBC talks about rural area as tourism object, but it also communicates a message that its natural beauty needs to be continuously preserved since it is the main reason that urban people come to visit the area as well as other rural areas. Therefore, the IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 176 development of modern infrastructure and facilities in those areas, as much as it is important to accommodate tourists, it should be kept in check to prevent any harm on the natural environment. Nature preservation is important not only to protect its beauty but also to maintain the traditional values that are attached to it. In traditional perspective, nature is emas mongko or treasure that is vital for people’s welfare in general. Manggaraian rap songs that specifically present images of urban areas were written by migrant Manggaraian rappers who still live outside their home region. Their lyrics represent their concern about how different the values and lifestyle in the city is from those in here they come from. This concern can be found in Potas Tribe’s “Indahnya Pagi”, Potazz’s “Jakarta Suruh Siapa?”, Potazz dan Z-Lo’s “This is my Life”, and Lipooz’s “Harapan”. Their lyrics reveal some conflicts and negosiations the Manggaraians have to undergo in their attempt to maintain their cultural identity as Manggaraians among a pluralistic society in the city that is full of people from different backgrounds. They feel that urban society is more materialistic and lack of the kinship solidarity of rural society. They have to continuously negotiate and renegotiate with their social environment to not to lose their cultural identity and, at the same time, to survive urban life. Throughout their struggle to make a better life in the city as migrants, things such as morning coffee, memory of their parents’ advice, and other things that are valued in Manggarai become their anchor whenever they need to stay connected to their origin. Lipooz’s “Harapan” brings into attention the importance of friends to go through the indifferent nature of urban social life. Some Manggaraian rap songs highlight the disagreeable sides of urban life such as its materialistic orientation, the hedonistic lifestyle of its people, corruption, moral degradation and indifferent attitude. These negative images are represented in the lyrics of Potaazz’s “Because of the Money” dan “Kemanakah Merdeka”, Dodi RBC’s “Perang Malapetaka” dan “Keadilan”, Aldo MBC’s “Interesti Suara Rakyat”, Lanooz’s “Playboy Freestyle”, and Selo Kapet’s “Perempuan Malam”. These songs reflect Manggaraian rappers’ awareness and concern of how these negative qualities may affect Indonesian nation in general and Manggaraian society in rural areas in particular. Conclusion It should be clear by now from the above discussion that Manggaraian rap songs which feature migration as their theme give particular insights into the causes and the effects of Manggaraians’ migration and their reasons to move from their villages to various cities. From the closer observation of the reality of this ethnic group and Manggaraian rap song, it is apparent that the fundamental cause of Manggaraians’ migration is the shift in their worldview and way of life as a result of their transformation from an agrarian society into an industrial society. Their reasons to migrate out of their home villages can be summed up by the fact that they feel motivated to be part of modernity. One of important effects of migration and the Manggaraians’ increasing contact with people from various sociocultural backgrounds is the occurrence of cultural identity issue. With the growing need for maintaining their connection with the culture where they were born and grew up and prevent themselves from feeling alienated in the city, Manggaraian migrants affirm their cultural identity IJHS, e-ISSN 2597-4718, p-ISSN 2597-470X, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2020, pp. 164-177 177 through various material and non-material representations of Manggaraian culture. References Allerton, C. (2004). The path of marriage: Journeys and transformatiion in Manggarai, Eastern Indonesia. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 160(2/3), 339-362. Allin. (2012). Llipooz ciptakan wadah berkarya untuk hip hop Ruteng. Retrieved on 12 July 2015, from hiphopindo.net: http://hiphopindo.net. Bell, A. (2017). Lipooz, dari Ruteng ke 16 bar ke hip hop sampai Tuhan suruh berhenti. Retrieved from RanaLinoID: https://www.ranalino.id/2017/02/lipooz-dari-ruteng-ke-16-bar-ke-hip- hop.html. BPS Kabupaten Manggarai. (2009). Manggarai dalam angka 2009. Ruteng: Pemerintah Kabupaten Manggarai. BPS Kabupaten Manggarai. (2014). Indikator kesejahteraan rakyat kabupaten Manggarai 2014. Ruteng: Pemerintah Daerah Kabupaten Manggarai. Brown, L. A. (1991). Place, migration, and development in the third world: An alternative view. New York: Routledge. Erb, M. (1999). The Manggaraians: A guide to traditional lifestyles. Kuala lumpur: Time Edition. Giddens, A. (2006). Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press. Gottdiener, M., & Budd, L. (2005). Key concepts in urban studies. London: SAGE Publications. Hagul, A., & Lana, C. D. (1989). Manggarai kemarin, hari ini, dan esok. Ruteng: Dinas P dan K. Kruse II, R. J. (2003). Imagining Strawberry Fields as a Place of Pilgrimage. Area, 35(2), 154-162. Morley, D. (2019). Stuart Hall: Identity and Diaspora (Vol. 2). Durham and London: Duke University Press. Saldana, A. (2002). Music, Space, Indentity: Geographies of youth culture in Bangalore. Cultural Studies, 16(3). doi: 10.1080/09502380210128289, 337- 350. Samers, M. (2010). Migration. London and New York: Routledge. Solomon, T. (2005). "Listening to Istanbul": Imagining place in Turkish rap music. Studia Musicologica Norvegica, 31(1), 46-67. Stead, D. (2002). Urban-rural relationships in the west of England. Built Environment, 28(4), 299-310. Stewart Jr, C. T. (1958). The Urban-rural dichotomy: Concepts and uses. American Journal of Sociology, 64(2), 152-158. Webb, R. P. (1994). The children of Mori Kereng: Education and strategies in Manggarai, Flores. Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 22(2), 141- 158. Woods, M. (2011). Rural. London: Routledge. Yuliantari, A. P. (2016). Molas baju wara: Hybridity in Manggarai rap music. CELT Journal, 16(2), 201-216. Yuliantari, A. P., Adi, I. R., & Ganap, V. (2015). Ruteng is da city: Representasi lokalitas dalam musik rap Manggarai. Resital, 16(2), 65-74.