Tulus won more than a dozen Indonesian Music Awards during the 2010s, making him one of the decade's most popular pop singers in Indonesia. He was born as Muhammad Tulus Rusydi on August 20, 1987, in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra. After adopting an abbreviated version of his name, "Tulus," as his stage name, he made his debut as a pop vocalist with a self-titled album in 2011. The record introduced Tulus' blend of jazz and pop, while also showcasing his songwriting skills. Although singles like "Sewindu" and "Teman Hidup" failed to chart on the Billboard Indonesia Top 100, "Teman Pesta" was nominated for "Best Alternative Production Work" at the 2012 Indonesian Music Awards. Two years later, Tulus reunited with his debut album's producer, Ari Renaldi, for 2014's Gajah, which proved to be one of the year's biggest releases. "Jangan Cintai Aku Apa Adanya," Gajah's most successful single, won Indonesian Music Awards for "Best Pop Male Solo Artist," "Best of the Best Production Work," and "Best Pop Songwriter" in 2015, while the album itself won "Best of the Best Album" and "Best Pop Album." Monokrom followed in 2016 and earned Tulus a pair of Top 40 hits with "Ruang Sendiri," which peaked at Number 36 on Billboard's Indonesia Top 100, and "Monokrom," which climbed to Number 21. That same year, he launched a two-season run as a judge of the popular TV show The Voice Kids Indonesia. He finished the decade by releasing non-album singles like 2018's "Labirin" and 2019's "Adu Rayu," the latter of which became his highest-charting single at Number 4.
