Kartika Jahja is better known by her nickname, Tika. She is an independent singer-songwriter with the band Tika and The Dissidents as well as an activist on the issue of gender and sexuality. Outside of music and activism, she is also a published writer, actress, and entrepreneur. In November 2016, she made the list of "BBC 100 Women" which is a list of the 100 most inspiring and influential women from around the globe.
After returning home from her studies in the Art Institute of Seattle in 2005, she started her solo album. With help from musicians Iman Fattah, Aghi Narottama, Bemby Gusti and Age Airlangga, she released her debut album Frozen Love Songs in 2005. The album received great acclaim because Tika introduces the Indonesian music industry to a concept of a female singer that goes outside of the pop-diva template. A year later, independent label Aksara Records repackaged the album and released it with a new title, Defrosted Love Songs. She collaborated with musicians from various genres such as Sri Aksan Sjuman, Jamie Aditya, Slank and Agrikulture among others. She was also involved in numerous film scorings and soundtracks, such as Janji Joni, 9 Naga, Love for Share, , Gara-gara Bola, Quickie Express, and Pintu Terlarang.
Tika and the Dissidents
After joining forces with a band and calling themselves Tika and The Dissidents, their long-awaited album was finally released in July 2009 under their own label, the Head Records. The album is titled 'the Headless Songstress'. Much to the band’s surprise, 'the Headless Songstress' received numerous praises from music fans and the media, both national and international. Their eclectic array of references created a collage of jazz, blues, doo-wop to punk, tango, and waltz that mashes together sophisticatedly. Add to that, a series of witty political lyrics that covers issues from LGBT, genderliberation, labor rights, to the massacre of individuality generated by the television. TIME magazine dubbed Tika as "Indonesia’s Hottest Diva", while Rolling Stone Indonesia mentioned her as "The best Indonesian independent soloist that the country has" as well as including her in their list of "30 Women Who Rock" in 2015. The pinnacle of the year, was when TEMPO Magazine awarded the album as "Album of the Year 2009" and the band as "2009’s Chosen Music Figure". In 2016, Tika and The Dissidents released an album titled MERAH. Their first single "Tubuhku Otoritasku" broke grounds as it speaks about women's bodily authority, which some still consider a taboo in Indonesia. That same year, she was chosen again by TEMPO magazine as one in ten "Boundary Breaking Women of 2016". In November of the same year, she made the list of "BBC 100 Women", a list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the globe.
Activism
Her song lyrics always had a political nuance but Tika's involvement in activism became more focused on issues of gender and sexuality in 2013. With fellow activists she organized the Indonesian chapter of the global movement "One Billion Rising". That same year, she came out about being a survivor of sexual violence in the media, resulting in many women coming to her publicly and privately to share their similar experiences. Tika took time off music to become a social caretaker for victims of gender based violence from 2013 to 2015. In August 2015, she and Dr. Rebekah Moore founded Yayasan Bersama Project, a foundation aimed at promoting gender justice through mediums of music, arts, and pop culture. Tika is also an active member of female collectives Kolektif Betina and Mari Jeung Rebut Kembali.
Other career
Other than music, Tika is also an entrepreneur, writer, and actress. She owns a café called KEDAI, where she designed the interior using leftover recycled materials. The café is dedicated to promoting local Indonesian coffee. KEDAI is also featured in many publications, including CNN. As a freelance writer, her pieces have been published in several print media, both Indonesian and other countries. From 2009 to 2011, she also had a weekly column named Street Smart in the Jakarta Post where she highlights Jakarta’s lifestyle from an ironically humorous point of view. As an actress, Tika have starred in feature films directed by Paul Agusta and Joko Anwar, as well as in a theatre production titled SUBVERSIF which was an adaptation of Ibsen's Enemy of The State.
