The progenitor of this genre is the frequent movement of bangsawan acts between Malaya, Deli (now Medan), Riau Islands and Java which later developed into Orkes Melayu ("Malay orchestra") starting in the 1930s, their compositions took from Indian and Arabic influences played with Western instruments, while their song lyrics often took from pantun.
[1] In 1960s Singapore, many 'fast guitar groups' (kumpulan gitar rancak, abbreviated as kugiran) sprung among the Malay community there influenced by contemporary Western music incorporating similar traditions.
[2] Since the 2010s, There are two pop melayu streams including the classification which is popular in Malaysia and the other is in Indonesia.
Those that managed to penetrate the domestic and international markets included ST12, Wali, Kangen Band, Armada, Radja, Hijau Daun, Dadali, Repvblik, Demeises, and others.
[3] The success of the pop melayu genre in dominating the market share in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei in general has also changed the color of the arrangements of pop genre music groups which were originally popular.