A Dong Nhi both old and new

Using familiar sounds from one of her biggest hits for her latest single celebrating 15 years of singing is a safe but smart move by Dong Nhi.

2023 is the year Dong Nhi celebrates her 15th singing anniversary. Achieving success right from her first singles, Dong Nhi has gone through many stages of Vpop and left a strong impression.

During the teen pop era, she was Bao Thy's biggest rival with a series of sweet and lovely songs such as Chang Baby Milo, Boi Toi, Ngot Ngot . During the ballad era, she had Cho Em Mot Lan Yeu which was very popular with the audience. When the EDM trend took Vietnam by storm, Dong Nhi had the hit Bad Boy with the album Ten on Ten which was highly appreciated by the audience and experts.

In recent years, Dong Nhi's progress has slowed down somewhat. Her personal life has changed, and her EDM music has not been very innovative, causing Dong Nhi to be somewhat distant from the public. Her latest single "Doi Mi Em Dang U Sau" has attracted attention but is not worthy of the level of investment and promotion by her and her team.

The project to celebrate 15 years of singing, starting with the single Nguoi Huo Phao Hoa , shows that Dong Nhi's ambition to return to the top position in Vpop is still very strong.

Dong Nhi recalls the sweet past

One of the most obvious new directions in Nguoi Huong Phao Hoa is that Dong Nhi has taken the trouble to collaborate with a team she has never worked with before. DTAP is currently a leading name when it comes to dance pop and electronic music in Vietnam. Right before Dong Nhi, Duong Hoang Yen also collaborated with this team in her highly invested comeback product.

With the intelligence and creativity of DTAP, Dong Nhi has had a rather impressive transformation. Instead of a rather stereotypical EDM version in terms of sound and structure like Doi Mi Em Dang U Sau , Nguoi Huo Phao Hoa has its own uniqueness when opening with a rather grandiose string arrangement.

The song still follows the structure of EDM when gradually "building up" so that the main chorus of the song falls into the drop. However, Nguoi Huong Phao Hoa does not use too many electronic sounds anymore but replaces them with real instruments and some elements of hiphop.

Dong Nhi collaborates with DTAP for the first time, opening up new sounds for her career.

This way of making music is directly reminiscent of Dong Nhi's teen pop phase when she also used a similar arrangement. Specifically, the bright and thin synth sound in the drop part is directly reminiscent of the female singer's hit Sweet . Even placing a reading - singing part in the middle of the song after the drop and reusing the trademark line "I'm in love with you" is also a clear tribute to Sweet .

With a product to celebrate Dong Nhi's 15 years of singing, this is a pretty smart choice. It shows the audience a Dong Nhi from the days when she first started her career, bringing back the lyrics and melodies familiar to the female singer's fans.

On the other hand, DTAP also did not try to bring the original prototype into the new product. They have a harmonious combination with real instruments and some of their own unique song implementations to help Dong Nhi's music sound nostalgic but still have modern elements.

Not sure about the market

The Firework Hugger is clearly a tribute to the audience who have followed Dong Nhi for the past 15 years. It not only recalls old melodies but also makes listeners recall a time of “youth” associated with the teen pop period of Vietnamese music. However, teen pop at the present time is very different.

The darkness of Fireworks Hugger is somewhat inconsistent with the teen pop elements that Dong Nhi and her team want to evoke.

The melody development like in "The Firecracker" in 2023 is rarely used in teen pop. The metaphorical lyrics of "The Firecracker" as someone who still hasn't forgotten their past love is also not very popular. The current teen pop audience prefers songs that go straight to the point, with bright themes that are not too sad. "The Firecracker" uses teen pop elements but the content is sad and somewhat dark.

The modern elements that DTAP added such as strings and piano contribute to making the song space larger and more suitable for Dong Nhi at the present time. However, it somewhat deviates from the roots of teen pop which are gentle, simple and close. DTAP's arrangement is still good, but not necessarily suitable for the market.

The Firework Hugger is an impressive product of Dong Nhi. It combines the Dong Nhi of 15 years ago with the present time, not too strange but not too old. However, it is only suitable for the position of a tribute single in the anniversary project. When placed with other songs on the market, the song is not new and trendy enough.

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