Son Tung and "Come My Way": What is Vietnamese identity?

Birds lost in Los Angeles, images of the Xuan Pha folk performance set to the Amapiano music of South Africa and Afrobeat of Nigeria, the landscapes of Trang An but interwoven into a song with English lyrics.

Despite its distinctly Vietnamese theme, Son Tung's music video is causing controversy due to several images showing the singer standing on the back of a mythical bird (a type of mythical creature) - Photo: Provided by the artist.

Those elements in Son Tung M-TP's " Come My Way " music video raise the question: Is this a product that embodies Vietnamese identity? And what exactly constitutes Vietnamese identity?

It's easy to assert that Hoa Minzy's "Bac Bling" is a work with a distinctly Vietnamese identity. It's also easy to assert that Hoang Thuy Linh's "Banh Troi Nuoc," "Tu Phu," and "See Tinh" possess a Vietnamese character. The same applies to Phuong My Chi's works.

They may incorporate exotic elements such as trap, hip hop, synth pop, disco, or the appearance of a few foreign words or phrases, or dance moves with a K-pop feel.

But few doubt the Vietnamese character of these products, because the central story is either based on classic Vietnamese literature or on traditional Vietnamese life. The artists focus on established cultural codes, evoking collective memories that are widely accepted.

Vietnamese identity becomes harder to define when listening to products like 2Pillz's Pillzcasso album.

A middle-aged listener with little V-pop experience might recognize some familiar Vietnamese melodies or sentimental tunes from the album, but they will also feel disoriented by the "chaotic" soundscape created by the producer. Familiar elements are placed in a new context, completely different from the listener's expectations. In other words, the artist has deactivated old memories, creating a new interpretation.

But at least 2pillz wrote the lyrics mainly in Vietnamese. As for Son Tung, from There's No One At All, Making My Way to Come My Way, all have English lyrics. Especially with Come My Way, the audience has the right to ask:

Why do you use imagery inspired by Vietnam but not sing in Vietnamese? Why aren't your Vietnamese images structured to create a linear story, but instead arranged solely for the purpose of visual impact?

Son Tung M-TP's MV "Come My Way"

For example, Quan Ho folk singing in Bac Bling , despite its innovations, remains the central link connecting music to visuals; while Xuan Pha folk singing in Come My Way is completely detached from the context of traditional village festivals, becoming merely a visual code. Isn't this a breakdown of identity?

If identity is a frame, then yes, the work is a fragment. But identity or essence cannot be framed; it is always a continuous flow.

It could even be said that Son Tung has undertaken a "deconstruction" of what is considered Vietnamese in his new work.

Unlike Hoang Thuy Linh, Hoa Minzy, and Phuong My Chi, who retain cultural elements within their original ecosystem (for example, Quan Ho folk music must include the traditional four-panel dress, the Lim Festival in Bac Ninh , and Kinh Bac culture), Son Tung strips away the historical narratives of the Lac bird, the Xuan Pha folk performance, and the bull racing festival, creating independent aesthetic entities.

His team discovered that the Xuan Pha dance, an ancient dance with bizarre and mysterious masks from Thanh Hoa, was very compatible when paired with music with an Amapiano or Afrobeat feel: both are tribal, primitive, and use rhythmic tapping to activate energy.

Similarly, 2pillz discovered that the ancient stone xylophones of the Vietnamese highlands, when struck at a certain speed, possess the same sharpness and crispness as the hi-hat.

We can also compare Son Tung's approach to Jackson Wang, a Hong Kong artist who debuted in South Korea.

His signature work is 100 Ways, sung in English over trap music, with only the visuals having a Chinese feel. Wang discovered that the rhythms of Chinese martial arts were compatible with the percussion in Western music and presented a dance developed from traditional martial arts.

Son Tung was once one of the language creators for the younger generation. He created countless new slang words. He also writes in a beautiful, lyrical style of Vietnamese. If he wanted a more distinctly Vietnamese product, he could easily make a sequel to "Lac Troi." But he didn't take the safe path.

Ultimately, it's easy to know who we are, but to know who else we could be, we need to constantly interact with the outside world .

HIEN TRANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/son-tung-va-come-my-way-the-nao-la-can-cuoc-viet-2026053109205622.htm