The dangers facing Vietnamese Rap.

Given the dominance of the older contestants and the scarcity of quality participants, can Rap Viet continue after season 4 ends?

After four seasons, Rap Viet remains the most successful platform for the hip hop and underground scene. The show has become an ideal launching pad for many rappers from the underground to emerge into the spotlight and even become sought-after stars, such as RHYDER, tlinh, MCK, and Double2T…

With season 4 just concluded, Rap Viet has achieved results that are perhaps the most satisfying to date. Robber was crowned champion and GILL received the runner-up award. That's the most convincing ending to this year's competition.

Obstacles from older brothers

This year's program features contestants who are quite familiar to the audience, such as GILL, Mason Nguyen, willistic, Coldzy, Saabirose, and media-attracting figures like Manbo, HIEUTHUHAI's close friend from Gerdnang's team.

The team also made efforts to innovate, from the first choice concept and blocking system to inviting Thai rapper F.Hero and South Korean hip-hop star Changmo for the Conquest and Final rounds. This investment is commendable and has helped Rap Viet increase media discussion while also making it more engaging and higher quality in terms of content.

Robber, GILL, and Manbo are the top 3 contestants of Rap Viet this year. Photo: Producer.

However, Rap Viet no longer holds the same dominance it did in its previous three seasons. Season 4 had a more lackluster start compared to the others. It wasn't until episode 7, when the hip-hop battle rounds of Karik's team aired, that viewers truly felt like they were entering a real competition.

The biggest disadvantage was the timing of the broadcast, when the majority of viewers were caught up in the "older brother" craze, including "Brothers Say Hi," also organized by the same company behind Rap Viet. "Brothers Say Hi" brought together 30 handsome contestants with youthful, modern, and diverse music , along with well-produced interactions and humorous games, creating a sensation among young people for months.

Just one week before the Rap Viet final aired, the "say hi" brother successfully held two concerts on December 7th and 9th in Hanoi , and according to information just released by the program's team, these concerts attracted up to 90,000 attendees.

Then, on the same day that Rap Viet entered its most important episode – the announcement of the results, which was the evening of December 14th – the "Brother Who Overcame a Thousand Thorns" concert took place in Hung Yen. The competition among hot music topics inadvertently distracted the audience's attention. They no longer focused their attention on Rap Viet as before, but gradually found new forms of entertainment.

According to Socialite's statistics, in the trending topics and keywords ranking (December 8th to 14th), "Anh trai “say hi” concert led with over 1 million discussions, overwhelmingly surpassing the second-place "Anh trai vượt ngàn chông gai" (765,000 discussions). Rap Viet Finals was in fourth place with 98,000 discussions, a very modest number compared to the top two.

According to Socialtrend, among the hottest topics discussed on social media in the 24 hours from 9 PM on December 15th to 9 PM on December 16th, "Anh trai vượt ngàn chông gai" (Brother Overcoming a Thousand Thorns) topped the list with over 126,000 discussions. Rap Việt (Vietnamese Rap) ranked second in that comparison chart with 46,000 discussions.

Shortage of candidates?

This year's Rap Viet still has performances that achieve good results, for example: Prosperity in all four seasons by GILL, Winner, See you next time ... or special He didn't do anything. The song by the Japanese Emperor featuring Thuy Chi garnered 8.5 million views after approximately two weeks of release. However, besides... He didn't do anything. While the show went viral and created a sensation across multiple platforms, the overall level of interaction and discussion among the remaining performances was somewhat lower compared to previous seasons.

Fever He didn't do anything. It arrived quite late, when Rap Viet was already preparing for the finals, meaning that even though this song was popular, it couldn't "save" an otherwise lackluster season. In fact, after the first round, when all the contestants of Rap Viet were revealed, the quality this year was considered to have declined. Audiences were expecting breakthrough, explosive performances like... Come home (Mikelodic) When are you going to get married? (24k.Right) The rose (French expatriates) Mountain sounds (Double2T) Hot Shot (Dlow)... but that wait was not yet over.

The song by the Japanese Emperor has become a sensation on social media, generating a large number of interactions. Photo: Producer.

In the previous three seasons, the contestants were relatively evenly matched. But in season 4, GILL and Robber were almost certainly in a superior position and had the victory firmly in their grasp. Meanwhile, many of the remaining contestants sparked controversy for singing more than rapping. This tendency to sing more than rap appeared in season 3 with RHYDER as a specific example. But in season 4, there were more contestants like that, such as Shayda, Vlary, Young Puppy, Ngắn, Coolkid, and Saabirose. Therefore, from the very first episodes, opinions expressing disappointment appeared on social media, claiming that Rap Viet was gradually turning into The Voice Vietnam.

Suboi even entered the Rap Viet Season 4 finals with a lackluster team, quite similar to her situation in the first season. However, while she had a strong presence in Season 1, in the latest season, almost no one in Suboi's team was strong enough to compete in the finals. Adding to that, the departure of two strong contenders, Dangrangto from BigDaddy's team and QueenB from Karik's team, made the Rap Viet finals predictable and lacking surprises. Manbo made it to the top 3 but also faced a lot of controversy. According to comments from many viewers on social media, HIEUTHUHAI's teammate was considered undeserving.

In fact, Rap Viet has entered its fourth season, so it's inevitable that there will be a shortage of contestants. Therefore, even the winner Robber and runner-up GILL are familiar faces, having competed in previous seasons before returning to Rap Viet for season 4.

With Rap Viet's quality being criticized and the song "Anh trai say hi" (Brother Says Hi) currently trending, viewers are questioning whether the show can have a fifth season. Furthermore, the production team of Rap Viet is preparing to release "Em xinh say hi" (Beautiful Girl Says Hi).

"Brother Says Hi" Season 2 and "Beautiful Girl Says Hi" are lined up waiting to air, making Rap Viet's chances of returning slim, at least in 2025.

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