The standard drum pattern of dangdut is called chalte which consists of five types of sound, including three that are played by the large drum that is placed on the left side of the drummer and two that are produced by the small drum on the right. According to Cak Met, a popular koplo drummer, the regular dangdut is played in 3/4 bar while koplo is played in a faster 4/4 bar, thus requiring a more complex drumming technique. The drum is the most important element of koplo. The derivative genre of pop koplo is popularized in the mid-2010s by artists such as Via Vallen and Nella Kharisma. Some of the pioneering koplo musicians include Inul Daratista who popularized koplo in the 2000s. Nevertheless, koplo has become one of the most popular musical genres in Indonesia, especially with the advent of pop koplo which does not employ overtly sexual performances. Rhoma Irama, one of the most influential dangdut singers also known as 'the king of dangdut', repeatedly criticized koplo during the early 2000s and attempted to distance it from the general dangdut genre. These characteristic performances have given the notion of koplo as 'immoral' music in the eyes of traditional dangdut musicians. The audience also gives money directly to the singer on stage. Traditional koplo in East Java is notable for the live performances, on which female singers dance erotically by shaking their hips and chests in revealing clothes.

Koplo also differs musically from the regular dangdut in the dominant role of the drummer, which plays more complex drum patterns. Dangdut koplo is played at a faster tempo than the standard dangdut music and said to make listeners 'feel high' thus gives the same effect of consuming koplo pills. The genre gets its name from the slang term ' koplo' which refers to a hallucinogenic drug that is sold cheaply in Indonesia. Koplo or dangdut koplo is a subgenre of dangdut, Indonesian popular dance & folk music, that originated in East Java during the early 2000s.

Lagu dangdut koplo