Rebel music is alive and kicking in Southeast Asia

Musicians are still making risky protests against repressive governments

In Southeast Asia, home to some of the world's most authoritarian and straight-laced societies, heavy metal, punk and hip-hop music still functions as a loudspeaker for protest. (Nikkei montage/Source photos from Defying Decay, Terror, YouTube)

MARCO FERRARESE, Contributing writer

May 13, 2022 08:00 JST

PENANG, Malaysia -- Decades after provoking moral panic among Western parents, anti-conformist musical subcultures such as heavy metal, punk and hip-hop have largely lost their original shock value.