Ha Quynh Nhu was once considered one of the young singers who helped bring folk music closer to the Gen Z generation. This EP, "Gay Nghe," marks the first time she has proactively stepped out of that mold to find a musical style that suits her current age and personality.
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Ha Quynh Nhu is passionate about traditional music. |
“Gấy Nghệ” is a remake EP featuring four songs adapted from the folk songs of Nghe Tinh: "Giận mà thương" (Angry but Loving), "Xẩm Nghệ" (Nghe Xam), "Về xứ Nghệ cùng em" (Returning to Nghe An with You), and "Hò trên sông" (Singing on the River). The songs are built on a foundation combining world music and electronica, using traditional Vietnamese instruments: the zither, moon lute, flute, two-stringed fiddle, gourd lute, and traditional percussion. Ha Quynh Nhu said: “Normally, I listen to pop and electronic music. I wondered why not try pursuing that kind of music. So I started brainstorming, finding a team, and then gradually making the EP.”
Initially, the EP was planned to be titled "Ví giặm thì lắm vị" (Many Flavors in Ví Giặm), but after completing the rap segment in "Giận mà thương" (Angry but Loving), she felt that "Gấy Nghệ" (Nghệ Girl) better reflected her spirit: a girl from Nghệ An who is individualistic and modern, but hasn't lost her roots.
The most noticeable difference in this EP is the incorporation of rap and EDM elements into folk music. Quynh Nhu admitted that she was quite unfamiliar with it. “Rap requires a steady rhythm, with small tempos and small beats. The rap part had to be recorded four times. Luckily, Huy (Vo Le Huy, stage name Lewiuy, singer and music producer) is also a rapper and writes rap lyrics, so he understood and taught me,” Quynh Nhu recounted.
But the bigger challenge lies in how to modernize the folk songs of Nghe Tinh without losing their soul. She and her team discussed many times whether to preserve or discard them. Quynh Nhu shared: “Some songs are suitable for keeping the melodic embellishments, while others are suitable for discarding them. In the end, we kept the most distinctive features of the folk songs, which is the melodic embellishments, while the music itself remained fresh.”
For Quynh Nhu, creativity is the greatest advantage of the younger generation when approaching heritage. As she believes, folk music is always within every Vietnamese person. But Gen Z knows how to breathe new life into it so that folk songs don't just remain in memory, but can be listened to repeatedly every day and become familiar with them.
According to Quỳnh Như, the repertoire of folk songs and chants still contains much unexplored material: ancient folk melodies and chants that young audiences haven't had the chance to experience. She hopes to delve deeper into these ancient elements but retell them in a new way. "I want to bring a new breath of life to folk songs and chants, infusing them with modern, electronic elements so that people not only remember their homeland but also hear them in their daily lives," Hà Quỳnh Như emphasized.
People's Artist Hong Luu, former Director of the Traditional Arts Center of Nghe An province, who taught Quynh Nhu her first folk melodies, highly praised her former student's approach. "Quynh Nhu's approach is very youthful, spreading the art of folk singing and making it appealing to young people. Not only that, but even middle-aged people with more progressive perspectives still enjoy it," People's Artist Hong Luu commented.
From a young girl singing traditional folk songs to a young artist incorporating rap and EDM into folk music, Ha Quynh Nhu's journey showcases the creative energy of young people in approaching heritage. "Gay Nghe" is not just a music EP, but a way for Nhu to identify herself, contributing a new perspective on how young people bring traditional elements into modern music.
Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/van-hoa/doi-song/thoi-lan-gio-moi-vao-dan-ca-vi-giam-1022608
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