Bali-based, most famous beatmaker hip-hop in the island of Gods, Da Kriss produced beat for so many Indonesian Mcs. In 2025 he released 5 remixes – stream below. And few days ago he launched “Strange Loops” Lp. The full interview is below, taken from the Star Wax Bali special, and can be downloaded in English here.

Welcome! A glass of?

Whiskey.

Your top 5 new releases

- MIKE – SHOWBIZ! on my first list because this album is sooooo good.

- Fly Anakin “(The) Forever Dream”.

- Larry June, 2 Chainz, The Alchemist – Life Is Beautiful.

- And I put 2 albums from 2024, “NxWorries” – “Why Lawd?”.

- Hiatus Kaiyote “Love Heart Cheat Code”.

Your top 5 indonesian song or Lp

- Ken Amok “Amok And Peace”, this album is so good and ken amok lyrics is on another level.

- AKA – Crazy Joe, crazy song! Try it.

- Prima Suara Compilation, my favourite indonesian jazz compilation of all time for now.

- Insthinc & Densky9 “Kartografi Musim Pagebluk”

- Dzulfahmi & Da Kriss “Rayuan Pulau Dewata”

Your first approach to beat making?

First time I started making beat in 2012 when I was 16 years old. I see my friend Axer Ghetto, aka Dirty Razkal, making some beats for his group back then, and I learned it by watching him making beats from scratch.  I started doing it at home with my computer. I did exactly what he was doing, making beats from scratch and I developed it by myself until I find out the sampling technique and I like it so much. It introduce me to many good songs from every genre. I still do sampling to this day.

Who are your current main influences?

Otis Jackson Jr. aka Madlib, has always been one of my main influences to this day. J Dilla, of course, influences me to make my drums better and unique; who doesn’t?

Top 3 beat from “Strange Loops” Lp and why? (streamin below)

I never rank up my beats, but I’ll try. “Monday song”, “Entertaining”, “Third Transfer”.

Because I used some new tricks that I never used to these 3 beats.

What is your favorite Indonesian adage and could you translate into English too?

“Tak kenal maka tak saying”. It means: if you don’t know the people, then you can’t love them. So if you don’t know me, you can’t love what I’ve made.

Your top 3 Indonesian record labels?

Grimloc Records, Skullism Records, Def Bloc.

Mountains or sea?

I’m living in South Bali, so I prefer sea because I rarely go to the mountains.

What comes to your mind if I say vinyl?

Treasure ! If are you digging hard, you can find a good song that you can’t find anywhere.

There are many bars and clubs with a mainly expatriate or tourist audience, but where should you go to listen music and spend an evening with Indonesians?

Hard questions, because I never spend my whole night in bars and clubs except for working or supporting my friend who is doing a DJ set in there. So I prefer to buy some whiskey and spend all night in the studio with friends, or just go to the Warung Arak, local liquor shop, buy Arak, and then spend the whole night right there with friends.

Best Balinese-Indonesian food: starter, main course, and dessert?

I don’t have a best starter or dessert. Just eat Babi guling or nasi campur with more urutan in it because urutan is my favourite Balinese food of all time.

Can you explain the story behind the “Electric Nightride” by Funky Fink & Da kriss?

Me and Jenggo aka Funky Fink were just chillin in the studio together, and he started to talk to me about his plan to make a solo album, and I helped him with the production. So, the first song we recorded was Electric Nightride, a song for making love after dating. And it’s going to be Funky Fin’s debut personal branding as a lady lover, lol.

What comes to your mind if I say MOTB?

Funky 4+1 More, Panca Sura Pongah, Massive and Dangerous. My Hip-hop group and I love them.

Best memory on stage?

I have never been on stage by myself; it’s always with MOTB and my best memory is when were always throwing local jokes in the middle of the set, it made us and all the audience happy.

Your favorite software and hardware?

Software, FL Studio. Hardware, SP-404, 303, and 555.

Another passion?

Cooking. I love cooking.

What job would you like to do if you weren’t a beat maker?

Music director maybe or cooking.

Interviewed by DJ coshmar