Mahalini frames Sampai Menutup Mata as a work that refuses to be contained by the narrow, often Western-derived genre frameworks that structure most mainstream music discourse, a choice that aligns with its placement in the Music/Other category, a space reserved for works that carve their own sonic and cultural paths outside preexisting, widely recognized labels. For creators working outside the dominant cultural centers of the global music industry, the pressure to fit one’s work into a predefined genre to earn visibility, distribution, or audience traction is a pervasive, longstanding barrier, one that forces many to dilute the specific cultural and creative identities that make their work unique to align with what Western audiences and industry gatekeepers have been conditioned to recognize.