Soobin Hoang Son: 30 is not the end

Soobin Hoang Son is no longer downcast today.

Now, in his 30s, having stepped out of the spotlight of mainstream music, Soobin Hoang Son has once again gone viral with his image playing the zither.

His gloomy expression disappeared. On the stage of a game show, Soobin played the zither like a rocker in the "Drum Rice " performance with Tu Long and Cuong Seven. Fierce. Impulsive. Full of performance spirit.

Being over 30 isn't the ideal age for artists making mainstream music; it's difficult to maintain momentum, especially in Vietnam. Remember a few years ago, audiences often compared Sơn Tùng M-TP and Soobin Hoàng Sơn?

SOOBIN, tlinh - Who Knows (ft. Touliver) | 'TURN IT ON'

Even back then, Son Tung was always considered the better player. But even Son Tung has stagnated now, and Soobin hasn't had a single song surpass "Phía sau một cô gái" or "Đi để trở về" from 7 or 8 years ago for a long time.

No one expects a star whose time has passed to return, but Soobin shows that 30 isn't the end.

Not long before the game show he participated in aired and became a sensation, Soobin Hoang Son released his album. His debut album! After a decade of singing, "Turn It On" is Soobin's first album.

Soobin sings in the song "Brother Overcomes a Thousand Obstacles".

Like Son Tung, Soobin developed during a period when the Vietnamese music market was dominated by YouTube, where music videos became the warhorses, while albums became the lame horses nobody wanted to ride.

Now that Generation Z is gradually restoring albums to their rightful place, while Son Tung is still struggling to release an album, Soobin has already released one, and moreover, a truly fresh album.

It felt fresh, because when listening to that album, you didn't get the feeling that Soobin was still stuck in his golden age seven years ago. There wasn't a trace left of his "ballad prince" reputation.

Although the 2021 EP The Playah revealed a different side of Soobin from the R'n'B genre, we can still feel the lingering softness of his love songs.

Turning it up completely differently, R'n'B blends seamlessly with rap, city pop, sometimes with the free-spirited feel of indie, unafraid to use slang as in the song Heyy.

Listening to this album might lead one to mistakenly believe it's the work of a rebellious, fearless, and uninhibited Gen Z artist.

Soobin Hoang Son's music video "Behind a Girl"

That doesn't come from Soobin collaborating with younger artists, like his collaboration with Tlinh on the song "Who Knows? " for example. Collaborations between artists from different generations are nothing new.

Recently, Tung Duong released the music video "Phoenix Wings" with rapper Double 2T. Despite innovating and stepping out of his comfort zone, Tung Duong remains Tung Duong; his class and aesthetic sense, compared to that of a young rapper, still reveal a clear difference.

However, when listening to Soobin Hoang Son collaborate with Tlinh, it doesn't sound awkward, perhaps because Soobin originally came from the mainstream music genre, so he adapts more easily.

Even when collaborating with someone who isn't exactly young, like Andree Right Hand, a 37-year-old rapper, the song "The Law" by these two artists in their 40s still exudes a spirit like that of newcomers to the rap world.

In other words, collaborating with young people doesn't automatically make us younger. Whether we become younger or not depends on ourselves.

In the title track, "Turn It On," Soobin sang, "Turn it on again. Turn it on again." In his early 30s, Soobin finally accomplished that musical inspiration: turning it on, once more.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/soobin-hoang-son-30-chua-phai-la-het-20240818093702768.htm