Energy of Asia: Official Album of Asian Games 2018

INASGOC took some famous Indonesian musicians and singers to enliven the 2018 Asian Games which were held in Jakarta and Palembang on 18 August to 2 September 2018. According to the INASGOC organizing committee chairman Erick Thohir, in addition to encouraging the athletes, the involvement of artists and musicians was also used to promote Indonesian music to the world.[4][5] For the Asian Games, they took themes such as solidarity, sportsmanship, victory, struggle, spirit, unity, friendship, and become champion. INASGOC then partnered with ASIRI since it is the trust for recording industry in Indonesia. ASIRI searched for musicians, artists, and songwriters for the album; the tracks then listened and reviewed by INASGOC. The selection of songs was also based on ASIRI's recommendations and research. The basis of assessment was taken from the market of each musician. After those various processes, they finally chose 13 songs representing various genres to be included in the Asian Games compilation album.[1]

INASGOC committee contacted d'Masiv vocalist Rian to create two songs for the Asian Games album. One of them, titled "Bright as the Sun" was sung by 18 Indonesian musicians, tells about the differences in Indonesia that can be an example for other countries and to appreciate the differences. He created it on four days before the one year countdown of the Games on 18 August 2017. The instrumental version of the song was used as background music for the games' International Games Broadcast Services (IGBS) title sequence. Another song, "Menaklukkan Dunia", tells about the spirit and to not easily despair to reach the victory, sung by Indonesian rock singer Once and a contestant of The Voice Kids Indonesia Season 1 Shakira Jasmine.[6][7]

Indonesian rapper JFlow also provided two songs for the 2018 Asian Games, titled "Unbeatable" and "Dance Tonight". "Unbeatable" was sung by him alongside Dira Sugandi, featuring a musical arrangement of hip hop and pop genres, tells to rekindle the fighting spirit to the end.[8] His other song with Bunga Citra Lestari, "Dance Tonight", is dedicated specifically for female athletes.[9]

The second song of the album, "Janger Persahabatan", was written by Guruh Sukarnoputra and sung by Noah vocalist Ariel and Hivi! former vocalist Dea. Taken from Balinese dance Janger, the song is expected to strengthen the friendship of Indonesia with other countries.[10][11] The song used both Indonesian and English lyrics but retains ethnic elements that are capable of showing Indonesia's rich cultural identity. The ethnic element becomes a challenge for NEV+, a band which is responsible for the song arrangement. Keyboardist Randy said that they needs help from several parties to create the music, one of them is Vicky Sianipar.[12][13] They later worked together to presents the rhythm of the spirit, contemporary music, and the thick ethnic nuance.[14]

Indonesian rock band Slank collaborated with DJ Dipha Barus bring the spirit of unity and peace through their dance-pop song "(Non Political) Asian Dance". The song invites people to unite and support Asian Games which will be held in next August and put aside various differences. "So we made the song Asian Dance, because by dancing, people can forget everything," said Slank drummer Bimbim.[15]

A pop dangdut song of the album, "Meraih Bintang", was chosen as the theme song for the 2018 Asian Games.[16] It was written by Pay and sung by popular dangdut singer Via Vallen. Using full of Indonesian lyrics, it breathes the spirit of victory in a sportive way in which an athlete must make their best effort to achieve the best performance.[17]

Drive former vocalist Anji alongside Ade Govinda create the eleventh track of the album titled "Indonesia Berpesta". According to Anji, it tells that Indonesia as the host of the Asian Games must be great, unite the spirit and unite the determination.[18] At the same day, on 12 July 2018, INASGOC released the next Asian Games song titled "Bukan Anak Kemarin Sore". It was created and performed by Indonesian band from Palembang, Armada. It was made "to prove to the world, everyone can be the best. It is a song to encourage as well," added Armada vocalist Rizal.[19]

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