It's time for Vietnamese rap to stop.

A few isolated highlights like "After Every Frame" and "What Did I Do?" couldn't pull Rap Viet Season 4 all the way to its full potential.

Four years ago, the live broadcast of the first season finale of Rap Viet attracted over 1 million live viewers on YouTube. This unprecedented figure helped Rap Viet ignite the rap music trend, creating a strong appeal for the genre.

Up until the 2023 season, the grand finale only attracted just over 400,000 viewers at its peak. This was the final "resistance threshold" for Rap Viet Season 4 to establish itself as a hugely popular game show.

However, in less than a week, episode 15 of Rap Viet season 4 disappeared from the "top trending" list. The appeal of the Rap Viet finale was easily overshadowed by events dominating social media, such as Anh Trai and Son Tung's concert in Hanoi .

Rap Viet quickly lost momentum after the final. Photo: Duy Anh.

Faded

Before "Brother Says Hi" and "Brother Overcomes a Thousand Obstacles" aired, Rap Viet was still the most anticipated game show of 2024.

The reason Rap Viet has become one of the most successful game show brands in Vietnamese history is its dominance on YouTube for three consecutive seasons. In particular, the strong resurgence of Rap Viet season 3 after a rather lackluster season 2 helped the show regain its appeal.

However, the reality unfolded according to a completely different scenario.

The immense popularity of "Brother Says Hi" and "Brother Overcomes Thousands of Thorns" dominated before, during, and after Rap Viet Season 4. Every year, Rap Viet gets heated up from the casting rounds. This year, thousands of contestants still tried their luck in Rap Viet Season 4. However, the casting sessions were held at a time when the "Brother" show was trending and audience attention wasn't focused on Rap Viet.

When Rap Viet aired its first episodes, the impact of "Anh trai" (Brother) was still strong. The Rap Viet Season 4 conquest round was completely lackluster, failing to produce a single hit. It was only thanks to the breakthrough hit of... Robber In short, Rap Viet season 4 has a new product dominating the "trending" charts, significantly boosting the show's appeal.

Right up to the final stages, Rap Viet was overshadowed by the show "Anh Trai" (Brother). In particular, the "number one game show in history" (as of the end of 2023) was outshone by a show from the same production company.

The phenomenon of "new waves overtaking old ones" has crushed Rap Viet, similar to how Rap Viet relegated The Voice and Vietnam Idol to oblivion four years ago. A series of additional reasons for Rap Viet's downfall include outdated scripts, a lack of quality contestants, and intense controversies even before season 4 aired.

Karik's contestant Manbo is constantly being attacked. Photo: Duy Anh.

Many controversies

Rap Viet seemed on the verge of collapse after season 2. The game show ceased production but returned in 2023 with a fresh new look. The appearance of BigDaddy, Thai VG, Andree, Suboi The change in the judges' positions is a significant shift that helps Rap Viet season 3 once again generate excitement.

In season 4, the same coaches and judges were in charge of the show, with only Suboi and Karik returning to the coaching seats and Thai VG taking on the role of judge. The game show innovated with a lineup of guest judges in each round.

In theory, the guest judge position was meant to add a touch of flair to each round of Rap Viet season 4. However, the reality was the opposite, as F.Herro, Hieuthuhai, and Changmo didn't contribute much to the game show. In fact, the appearance of F.Herro and Hieuthuhai even caused the program to lose viewers' support.

Viewers questioned, "Why not a Vietnamese rapper?" when F.Herro was seated in the top position. Meanwhile, Hieuthuhai was deemed to lack the experience and professional standing to sit in the "hot seat" and give feedback. Only Changmo, as a guest judge, generated some excitement.

The language barrier made F.Herro and Changmo's comments less impactful. Their comments were general, rarely focusing on the contestants' quality, unique qualities, or specific professional aspects. Meanwhile, Hieuthuhai's comments were mostly superficial and flattering.

Rap Viet Season 4 was a year with few outstanding performances and a scarcity of hit songs, but it was full of drama. In particular, the breakthrough round was the most controversial, with viewers constantly debating who deserved to advance and who didn't. The leniency of the judges towards rappers who were on the show to sing also caused outrage.

The coaches and judges of Rap Viet are becoming increasingly unremarkable. Photo: Duy Anh.

The problem with Vietnamese Rap

The decline in the appeal of Rap Viet fundamentally stems from fundamental factors. These include the coaches/judges reaching their limits within the program's framework, and the quality of the contestants indicating a depletion of talent suitable for game shows.

This year, Robber, Gill, and Dangrangto are the three most outstanding contestants. Gill is a former contestant who returned to the show. Robber passed the casting for season 2 but suddenly disappeared, making a comeback this year. Dangrangto is a rare newcomer to the game show who meets the new criteria and possesses good professional skills. However, at the final round, Dangrangto suddenly dropped out.

Contestants Manbo, 7dnight, Coolkid, and Saabirose made promising debuts in the conquest round. They carried the responsibility of being new elements that would create an explosion of excitement for Rap Viet season 4. However, the common thread among them was that they started brilliantly but faded into obscurity later on. By the final, they had all disappeared.

Rap Viet Season 4 had the weakest competition. From Round 2 onwards, viewers predicted the race for the championship would be confined to Robber, Gill, and Dangrangto. By the first final, Dangrangto dropped out, and Gill's performance declined. Most viewers easily recognized that victory was firmly in Robber's hands, and that's exactly what happened.

According to the show's announcement, over 4,000 contestants registered for the casting. However, in reality, very few rappers were good enough to be selected for the filming round. Rap Viet has fallen into a cycle of contestants from previous seasons returning, while truly high-quality new talents only appear sporadically.

Over four seasons of casting, famous faces and prominent rappers from various teams have successively taken to the Rap Viet stage. The shortage of rap talent for game shows has become evident.

Rap Viet faces another problem: the element of surprise is gone. The game show's format has become outdated. The production team of Rap Viet season 4 attempted to innovate by giving coaches more power to choose contestants in the conquest round. However, the situation in the conquest round of season 4 was considered chaotic because the coaches had more power, even reducing the excitement of competing for contestants compared to when the "golden hat" was the only privilege.

More broadly, rap music no longer generates the same level of excitement for audiences. Among the numerous performances in the breakthrough round of Rap Viet Season 4, the most "viral" track was Thuy Chi's vocals supporting Nhat Hoang. The truly high-quality rap songs of Rap Viet Season 4 couldn't compete in the "trending" race, even those by Gill or Robber in the most recent episodes.

In the history of Vietnamese music, the creation and survival of a game show over four seasons is remarkable. Maintaining its appeal for as long as Rap Viet is truly an achievement. However, the game show is on a downward trend, with all its elements fluctuating compared to the early seasons.