Asian Glow #002: Essential Listening: Vietnam 2020
The lowdown on Hanoi hyperpop, Saigon vaporwave, and the best R&B scene in Asia.
Why is Vietnamese pop so good?
That’s a question I ask myself often because V-pop is exceptional among its single letter plus the word “pop” peers. By all accounts, it shouldn’t be. Vietnam only developed a music industry a little more than three decades ago, and it was fragile—rampant piracy meant that official sales of 2,000 copies meant a big hit. Its teen pop industry, aka V-pop, is even more recent, emerging in the 2000s, and again low CD sales meant prospective idols have to count on everything else but their music to earn an income. And yet in these hostile conditions sophisticated and adventurous pop music is produced, and pretty frequently, too.
The reason why is simple, and it lies with Vietnamese people themselves—they’re all music nuts. In Vietnam, 81 percent of people listen to music every week, according to the Google Consumer Barometer. In Singapore, that number is 50 percent; in Thailand, 28 percent.
In other words, pop music in Vietnam occupies an enormous cultural space. In most other Asian countries, pop music is a vehicle to advertise TV dramas; here, pop music is the TV drama, with elaborate music videos decked out with stylish costumes, beautiful scenery, and melodramatic storylines. And it’s not just considered a form of light entertainment; the legacy of “yellow music,” like the famous anti-war work of Trịnh Công Sơn & Khánh Ly, means that Vietnam takes its pop music seriously as a legitimate vehicle for art.
I love listening to V-pop; actually, it’s probably my favorite Asian genre to listen to outside of my own North Indian pop. They share an inheritance, coincidently—both countries have had a decades-long infatuation with Latin pop and Afro-Cuban instrumentation that’s reflected in the swing and the grooviness of their contemporary popular music. That’s probably why I’m a bit sappy on the genre, and also why I think V-pop makes some very fine R&B. It might not have the priciest production, but if you listen close, there’s an ease with syncopation that other countries have to try a lot harder to achieve.
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO: HERE ARE 30 ESSENTIAL SONGS THIS YEAR, THAT ALL JUST HAPPEN TO BE FROM VIETNAM:
Youtube Playlist (incomplete) | Spotify Playlist (even more incomplete)
444, Axa: “Mau, sau”
Artist and singer 444 teamed up with experimental electronic artist Axa (a.k.a Ly Trang, of the excellent 2018 album Snail Skeleton) for a freaky take on bedroom R&B. Trang takes the familiar gestures of ‘90s R&B—the Babyface synth pads, the soulful guitar strums, the shimmering chimes—and distorts them, while incorporating, as she always does in her work, touches of Vietnamese folk music. The result is meta-Vpop that meditates on cross-cultural translation, on what “usuk pop” (to use the awesome Viet-English term) might have lost, and gained, when it was brought across the Pacific.
ANNAM: “Cô Đôi Thượng Ngàn - House Version”
Vinahouse is the wave. Not only is it domestically popular, but it has gone international in recent years—countless Chinese TikToks have been soundtracked to these EDM remixes of classic Vietnamese ballads. Here, experimental duo ANNAM, composed of producers Dustin Ngo and mess., give Vinahouse an art club sheen.
B Ray x Amee x Masew: “Do For Love”
Vinahouse has gotten so popular that these days some songs arrive pre-remixed, like “Do For Love.” And this song explains why Asia has been increasingly paying attention to Vietnam’s brand of dance-pop—Vietnam’s youngest generation of producers are gifted and ambitious. Producer MASEW mixes piano house with hip-hop syncopation, and he’s clearly put a lot of care into his work, like in how the trap drum rolls that sound like a rattlesnake tail are mirrored by the catchy iPhone keyboard sound sample, or how the song wisely erupts into UK garage instead of the expected trop pop. The only problem is B Ray, who’s been ruining Amee songs all year, but he’s carried across the finish line with all the excellence around him.
Brittanya Karma: “Dù em nghèo”
Karma was a German-Vietnamese social music influencer and sometimes rapper who spoke out about body positivity, anti-colorism, and diasporic identity; she passed away earlier this year from COVID-19 (in Germany, Vietnam beat back the coronavirus entirely). Her viral hit “Tự Tin” (“Confidence”) is what she will be remembered by, though “Dù em nghèo” is just as good and sports a goofy EDM beat switch in the middle. Her sense of humor, her important message, and her bright personality will be missed.
Chillies x Suni Hạ Linh x Rhymastic: “Cứ Chill Thôi”
Chillies were a cover band playing Hard Rock Cafe Saigon just as little as two years ago, now they’re scoring some of the biggest hits in the country. On “Cứ Chill Thôi” they team up with Rhymastic—another member of that “gifted and ambitious” generation of Vpop producers mentioned above—for an effortless summer jam for a country that actually had a summer. It kind of does what Doja Cat wanted to do in “Say So,” but better; if you want your neo-disco without Dr. Luke, just check the Chillies out instead.
The Flob: “Vegas”
Gen Z band The Flob’s acclaimed debut album Sống Sai dropped this year, and it was a great showcase of their potential. What that potential is, exactly, was hard to tell, though, because their speed-of-the-internet hyperactive energy meant that they switched genres with every track. “Vegas” was hands-down the highlight of the album. It’s 100 gecs as covered by My Chemical Romance, neatly fusing a headbanging pop-punk breakdown with a headbanging EDM drop, and it’s one of my favorite hyperpop tracks of the year.
Gil Lê: “Sao Người Ta Nỡ Làm Mình Đau”
Queen of sapphic pop Gil Lê has been leading the “L” front of Vietnam’s LGBTQ+ pop boom for years now, and she continues her hot streak with this song about how much it sucks to not have closure from your ex. RT.
Hoàng Thùy Linh: “Kẻ Cắp Gặp Bà Già” (Meet Your Match, lit. Diamond Cuts Diamond)
Hoàng Thùy Linh, currently the world’s most exciting pop star, imagines her pop as a form of feminist consciousness-raising. She has an idiosyncratic vision of Vietnamese femininity pieced together from the women of folk tales, national literature, and of course, her own long career in the spotlight. This music video is bit confusing, even, apparently, to Vietnamese pop music critics themselves, but from what I can piece together Hoàng is a queen playing a gender-wars-metaphor board game with a suitor. Interspersed are tableaux in the style of colorful Hàng Trống woodcuts that depict various tragic and famous female characters like the fairy Chức Nữ or the sex worker Thuý Kiều. The intent of this mash-up, which is basically the concept behind her album Hoang, is to speak in the collective voice of Women, which adds thousands of years of punch to the declaration, “I was supposed to be the ruler / Game over!”
Hương Giang: “Tặng Anh Cho Cô Ấy” (Give Me To Her)
Trans V-pop icon Hương Giang has been pushing the art of the music video to the next level with her two-year-long five-part song cycle Anh Đang Ở Đâu Đấy Anh or #ADODDA. “Tặng Anh Cho Cô Ấy” was the final chapter in the story, and incredibly, it shot to the top of YouTube trending in five hours, smashing the record formerly held by V-pop star Sơn Tùng M-TP’s single with Snoop Dogg. This is the Gesamtkunstwerk of the Vietnamese ballad in its highest form, people. Not only is the song lush and lovely, but the music video is packed with more heart-rending twists than an episode of How To Get Away With Murder. And is that a canon lesbian end I see??
Kha: “Em Có Nghe”
Literal high school senior Kha has been scoring enormous hit after hit with his stripped-down bedroom pop, and this year’s “Em Có Nghe” shows just how good he is creating a catchy pop song out of little more than finger-snaps, one looped synth, and the nimble flow of his voice. Kha adds little touches as the track goes on to keep our interest, first the EDM build-up snares, then the house beat, and finally, a sick electric guitar solo. If he’s this good now, just wait ‘til he graduates.
Madihu: “Thôi hẹn em”
This song feels like the missing link of evolutionary evidence for my pet theory that contemporary Viet R&B is indebted to its predecessor, bolero. That funky guitar, those conga drums, THAT SAX SOLO—take me back to Paris by Night!
mess.: “Holy Sun”
Vietnam’s dance music boom has led to a complementary, if smaller, experimental dance music scene. mess. (1/2 of the previously mentioned ANNAM) dropped her album Fearless this year and it’s very good weirdo IDM, and “Holy Sun” is the best of the bunch. Whatever the hell that sample is (string? horn?) it goes hard! You know, I kinda want to hear Lim Kim on this beat …
MIN: “Trên Tình Bạn Dưới Tình Yêu” (More Than Friends, Less Than Lovers)
Min is 32 and a teen pop star, and, like her close spiritual contemporary Carly Rae Jepson, she brings her experience to bear in crafting glittering pop jewels. “Trên Tình Bạn” is her ode to FWB, to which she takes the Erica Jong view of things, or as she puts it, “[we’re] not lovers but [we’re] much, much happier.” Too bad we get the antifeminist music video that reminds of me of this incel comic to rain on the parade, but at least the song alone holds up.
Mixed Miyagi: “Ngày Nào Cũng Vậy” (The Same Every Day)
Florida-based Black Vietnamese rapper Mixed Miyagi says FUCK that pro-Donald Trump song, let me counteract decades of conservative “anti-communist” propaganda by dropping this track. It’s a point-by-point argument for the Black Lives Matter movement, and makes the case (that, unfortunately, needs to be made) for interracial and international solidarity. And if you want something upbeat after this downer, he’s got you covered.
Phùng Khánh Linh: “cô gái nhân ái” (Nice Girl)
Universal Music Group decided to launch a Vietnamese subsidiary this year, no doubt noticing, vulture-like, how weak the country’s labels are. Their first signee was Phùng Khánh Linh, a popular young balladeer who already has a hit or two under her belt. “Cô gái nhân ái” is the latest single from her debut album, Yesteryear, which doesn’t sound remarkable until you realize how very few V-pop artists drop albums these days. Yesteryear is UMG’s first local release and a gamble on a new kind of V-pop, and “Cô gái nhân ái” is the thesis statement. It’s a fusion of the diva ballads of Ngọc Lan with pounding electropop, with all the drama and camp of the former in the youth-friendly packaging of the latter. A nakedly economic calculation to try to appeal to a wide as possible an audience, but if it isn’t damn good.
prettyXIX, 2pillz, Hnhngan: “Dance Like Nicki”
Drainer masculinity has gone international (or wait, with Thaiboy Digital, were they always?) with this netlabel-y reggaeton-y track from rapper prettyXIX, producer 2pillz, and vocalist Hnhngan. Something about the slightly choppy vocals and the droll chorus of “dance like Nicki / bounce bounce” reminds me of the charm of Charli XCX’s best work.
Sơn Tùng M-TP “CÓ CHẮC YÊU LÀ ĐÂY” (Isn’t This Love?)
Artists are supposed to get worse after they reach their overexposed phase—call it the Drake rule. But Sơn Tùng M-TP, who, okay, a lot of pop critics wrote off after his derivative early hits, came out with a cute cotton-candy R&B bop this year that’s probably the best thing he’s ever put out. The delicate run at the end of the chorus really seals the deal on how charming this track is. The music video is officially subtitled in eight languages; and if M-TP keeps this up, he might well make the leap to the international superstardom that he so desperately wants.
Soobin Hoang Son: “Trò Chơi” (The Game)
I was kind of missing douche club music the other day while I was listening to 2PM’s “Hands Up,” and hey, this hits the spot! Former ballad singer Soobin has gone through a drastic image change after affiliating himself with the SpaceSpeakers collective, a very cool and talented group of V-pop artists and producers that’s been at the forefront of pushing Vietnamese synthpop in interesting directions. Touliver, the leader of the collective and a great pop producer, pairs some Travis Scott touches with electro-R&B that reminds of this underrated Prince Royce song. Let’s hope “The Playah” only goes harder from here.
Tage: “Lớp 13” (Grade 13)
I talked about the difficulties of rapping in a tonal language in the last newsletter, check that final blurb out. But is there a benefit for rapping in a tonal language? “Lớp 13” demonstrates there’s a big one. In English, when we rap fast we tend to delete or homogenize vowels and minimize the accentual patterns that underpin “flow,” which leads to a mushy, mumble-mouthed delivery, even when the best of the best like Busta Rhymes is doing it. Tage truncates his tones but they still add a lot more variety and dimension in his fast rapping than it would in English … just a little aesthetic detail to chew on.
T.R.I, Kim Kunni (ft. NVM): “UỐNG” (Drink)
JMG Melancholy is a loose indie R&B collective that’s been dropping some good stuff, particularly from its two female vocalists, Kim Chi Sun and Kim Kunni. It’s the latter with the star role here, singing the awesome and twee (but in a good way) hook. T.R.I’s performance, I guess, doesn’t get in the way of the vibes.
SaigonSO: “Tôi là một con bướm nhỏ”
~ S i g n a l w a v e ~ producer Yingvarz dropped Ho Chi Minh City this year, and while not every track’s a winner, it’s still the best thing I’ve heard from this microgenre. Signalwave/Broken Transmitter is basically plunderphonics except the remixed product has to be reminiscent of vaporwave and sound like parts of it was recorded of a really cheap radio. In “Tôi là một con bướm nhỏ” Yingvarz meditates on the kitschy and slightly racist DDR hit “Butterfly” as well as the sound of plastic toy speakers. I have a theory-ish about how Asian pop is entangled in the Western ear with the continent’s perceived mode of production, knock-off factory work … but here, we get a Swedish song sounding tinny on purpose that was appropriated by a Japanese company to resale to a Western audience … that is for some reason part of this tone portrait of Saigon. Huh. Well, anyway, Yingvarz thinks through it better than I could.
Trang, Tien Tien: “I Don’t Wanna Miss You”
Bedroom pop has been exploding among Vietnam’s hippest as of late, and Trang tries her hand at it a year after her coffeehouse indie debut album Tỉnh giấc khi ông trời đang ngủ. I think this sound works better for her. She has a low-key but pleasant voice, and that suites the production, which is perfectly balanced between the awkward and elegant. And the lyrics are too real.
Wowy, LD SouthGanz: “Chạy” (Run) & “Chạy (version Phượng)” (Run version Pheonix)
This is pulled from the soundtrack to the movie Ròm, a crime drama slash How The Other Half Lives report that won the New Currents award at the Busan International Film Festival. It’s a total rework of Wowy’s 2012 track of the same name, with the original beat stripped out and replaced with the banging of the trống cái, the drum used in the musical accompaniment of Vietnamese theatre. There’s a second version of this song too, which replaces the frenetic energy of the first with a contemplative mood and spoken word poetry. Both of the music videos are vividly filmed and are must watches.
Vu Tranh Van: “Gửi em” (To You)
Indie pop artist Vu Tranh Van takes a few pages out of Titanic Rising with the beautiful string sample that begins “Gửi em,” whose cinematic air suits its timeless lyrics about loneliness and yearning.
Xanh 8+1: “Nhu Trong Mo”
I saw a tweet the other day asking about when the dream-pop revival is happening—listen, if you’re waiting around for any revival to happen, stop waiting and start listening, because chances are it’s probably already going down in the Asian indie rock scene right now, which, being a few years behind trend even in our internet era, is revival obsessed. So if you want classic rock revival but good and not Greta Van Fleet? Turn to Xanh 8+1, which does something genuinely new with the genre while keeping with tradition. And I just love how the Orientalism of the verses here gives way into the Beatles harmony of the chorus; it’s like watching the Beatles’ career in reverse.
BONUS: Ytiet: “41”
Left off the list proper because this is technically not a song produced for a Vietnamese or diasporic Vietnamese audience, but worth a listen to nonetheless for how it captures the strange world of global digital culture. The story behind the song is that a buffalo herdsman from Vietnam’s Bình Định Province went viral in the West for his TikToks where he sings English numbers in a boyish R&B croon, like Bieber covering “Knee Play 3.” Retro Messiah, a trap producer from Atlanta, decided to sample his vocals and lay it over a slick beat. This could have been a terrible racist joke, and I suspect it was on TikTok, but Retro Messiah’s production is actually really tender and respectful towards Ytiet’s voice, emphasizing the earnestness and expression without making a show of the accent. Expect this to get bigger now that Wiz Khalifa hopped on it and dropped a music video this week.
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