From folk sources to a global language

As Tet approaches, their music resonates in the kitchen, on the bus, and during family meals. "Building Together" begins with small things like this—kindness, quietness, and lasting impact.

In 2025, the world is going crazy for AI music and multimedia performance trends. Vietnamese music is not left out and is experiencing a golden age of sustained, high-quality creations. From folk music to international stages, young artists are quietly reviving old values ​​with new languages, together shaping the spiritual identity of the country through sound.

  DTAP

If we consider DTAP (comprising three music producers: Thinh Kainz, Kata Tran, and Tung Cedrus) as the architects of contemporary sound, then their creative method is to excavate and reconstruct old foundations. They trace back the layers of traditional music, from the pentatonic scale, the vibrato of the zither, the sustain of the bầu lute, the rhythm of folk drums, to the melodic patterns that once permeated marketplaces, village communal houses, and festival spaces. These musical materials are incorporated into a new structural system – the structure of pop, EDM, and world music – but without being dissolved; instead, they serve as "auditory anchors" within the overall structure of the work.

DTAP producer group. Photo: Archival material.

From hits associated with mainstream artists to the album "Made in Vietnam ," DTAP's products have not only established their position on digital music charts and award systems, but more importantly, they mark a shift in public perception. Folk music is no longer seen as a memory to be preserved, but as a simple language in motion in contemporary life.

The music is structured with an architectural mindset; the electronic rhythm layer acts as a load-bearing framework, while traditional materials become the rafters and pillars, maintaining balance for the entire aesthetic space. The sound of the zither in DTAP's music doesn't drift like a nostalgic sign, but leans into the stream of electronic sounds as a resonant axis. The drums are no longer the sound of past rituals, but beat in sync with the times. Tradition, when properly positioned within its structure, doesn't need to be invoked. It reveals itself through its inherent resonance, quietly, modernly, and with profound cultural depth.

PHUONG MY CHI

Phuong My Chi emerged from the world of bolero and folk music like someone carrying a conical hat through many seasons. From the age of 10 on The Voice Kids Vietnam to today, more than a decade in the profession has been enough for her voice to shed its "phenomenal" status and enter the maturity of an artist with a conscious aesthetic sense. Her path is slow but steady, like an underground stream. Her early albums, such as "Thuong ve mien Trung" (Love for Central Vietnam) , still retain the essence of traditional folk music. By " Vu tru co bay" (The Crane's Flight Universe), folk music has been placed in a more open harmonic space, where the classical pentatonic scale begins to dialogue with pop and world music. This is not a radical departure but a careful restructuring process: the folk melody axis remains central while the arrangement and rhythm are expanded to adapt to modern listening sensibilities.

Singer Phuong My Chi. Photo: FBNV

From a musicological perspective, this is a form of "renewal within limits," where tradition is not distorted but its frame of reference is shifted. It is this foundation that led Phuong My Chi to Sing! Asia 2025. Reaching the top 3 in the final round is a milestone affirming her ability to integrate without sacrificing her identity. On the Asian stage, she did not choose the path of dissolving into global pop standards, but retained the "sound signature" of her nation within a modern performance structure. Vietnamese folk music, for the rare occasion, appeared in a regional dialogue space on equal footing.

If we place Phuong My Chi within the broader Asian musical landscape, we can see she follows the trend of many young Korean and Chinese artists in their efforts to modernize tradition. However, unlike the strong trend towards visual and stage electronicization in K-folk or the traditional style of C-folk, Phuong My Chi's choice leans towards maintaining the core of vocal music. Here, folk music is not merely decorative symbols but the core of emotion and melodic structure. Awards, charts, or viewership numbers are only the tip of the iceberg. What lingers longer is the feeling for listeners that they see a part of their village transitioning through modernity without losing its identity. In an era that favors speed, Phuong My Chi represents a rare slow pace. And it is this slow pace that has created one of the most enduring movements of Vietnamese folk music today.

"The Fleeting Shadow" - Phuong My Chi

  BLESSING

Duc Phuc's musical journey began with simple pop ballads, where his expressive voice and stable mid-to-high range made him a familiar face to the general public. But it was from this "easy-listening" space that he quietly prepared for a different path, stepping out of the role of a performing singer to become a creator of stage spaces imbued with cultural ideas.

Singer Duc Phuc. Photo: FBNV

With "Phù Đổng Thiên Vương" —the performance that earned Đức Phúc first prize at Intervision 2025—he didn't approach the international stage with a "dissolution" strategy, but rather with a dialogue. There, Vietnamese folk legends were placed within a modern harmonic structure, with strong rhythms, lighting, and movement that spoke a global language. Culture became the core content of the performance. Victory didn't come from fleeting effects, but from an integrated performance structure combining vocals, staging, and aesthetic vision.

Experts commented on Duc Phuc's performance of "Phu Dong Thien Vuong ," noting that his vocals served as the focal point of the entire stage, controlling the duration well and maintaining stable pitch within a rich sound spectrum, preventing his voice from being overwhelmed by the harmonies and lighting. This is a crucial condition for a singer to reach international performance standards. Winning Intervision 2025 not only confirms Duc Phuc's individual capabilities but also opens up a possibility for Vietnamese music. One can confidently believe that the Vietnamese language and music can reach the world with their own unique identity if presented within a profound and contemporary artistic structure.

TUAN CRY – HOA MINZY AND “BAC BLING”

Tuan Cry entered the world of music through his everyday work experiences, and from there, he formed a unique creative axis: bringing folk memories and folk culture into the digital space. His song " Bac Bling ," performed by Hoa Minzy, became a pop culture phenomenon not only because of its powerful spread on digital platforms but also because it marked a model of "collaborative creation" between the songwriter, the performer, and the receiving community in reviving heritage. Quan Ho folk songs, the rural landscape of Northern Vietnam, and the aesthetics of folk laughter are placed within a contemporary pop-rap structure, where electronic rhythms, everyday pronunciation, and social media tempos coexist, creating a form of "cultural re-coding" for the younger generation.

Singer Hoa Minzy

Bac Bling can be considered a prime example of the "re-folklorization" process in popular culture, where folk values ​​are restructured to continue evolving in a new media environment. Here, heritage is not "confined" to a museum of memory, but enters online life as a living language, capable of spreading, transforming, and regenerating. After Bac Bling , Tuan Cry shifted to children's music with songs based on folk games. These products didn't create a huge market buzz, but quietly entered schools, playgrounds, and community spaces, where music became the most natural means of transmitting cultural memory.

Tuan Cry and Hoa Minzy have accomplished something significant: restructuring folk material within a new musical language, so that the heritage is not only "preserved," but also continues to live, continue to transform, and continue to be possessed by the younger generation as a natural part of future cultural memory.

They may not be "social media sensations." They walk separate paths, their careers not intersecting, but they all head in the same direction: perseverance. During Tet (Vietnamese New Year), their melodies resonate in kitchens, on buses, and during family meals. "Working together to build" begins with such small acts of kindness, quietly and enduringly, in the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people.

Writer Duong Tri Toan

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/am-nhac-tu-mach-nguon-dan-gian-den-ngon-ngu-toan-cau-2490377.html