Son Tung M-TP has just reappeared after 2 years with a new song "Come my way", shaking hands with the famous Vietnamese-American male rapper - Tyga.
The MV of the Thai Binh-born singer immediately recorded explosive achievements, climbing to the top 1 trending (trend) YouTube in Vietnam and many countries such as the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, Korea...
Repositioning strategy
In the past two years, the Vietnamese music market has had many fluctuations. The heat of shows like "Anh trai say hi", "Anh trai vuot ngan chong gai" has promoted the strong rise of a new generation of artists breaking through in the streaming and fandom segments such as Soobin, HIEUTHUHAI, Quang Hung MasterD, Rhyder...
This dizzying change also puts pressure on Son Tung when he reappears. He owns a large fandom in the country, so many viewers believe that it is not difficult for the male singer to have more MVs with hundreds of millions of views. What they expect more is that Son Tung will bring any surprise to the public.
With "Come my way", it can be seen that Son Tung is still steadfastly pursuing the goal of bringing Vietnamese music to the global music map.
From releasing a song entirely in English, following the trending music in the world, collaborating with a famous Vietnamese-American rapper, a methodical promotion strategy, to the overwhelming impression of bringing a series of Vietnamese cultural and historical elements into the MV... Son Tung seems to no longer want to simply create a hit according to a safe formula in the domestic market.
The male singer is aiming for the image of an artist who can bring Vietnamese identity to connect with the global music market but still maintain his own personality, in the direction of "integration, not disintegration".
In fact, Son Tung expressed his "American advancement" dream many years ago when he decided to collaborate with rapper Snoop Dogg in "Give it to me" (2020); then released songs almost entirely in English - "There's no one at all" (2022), "Making my way" (2023).
However, the ambition to become a "pioneer" also faces many challenges, when experimental musical colors for the Vietnamese market will face many controversies and doubts. Even loyal fans may not immediately sympathize.
Because when an artist is too successful, when they experiment with new directions, they will easily be compared with familiar colors before.
What is commendable is that Son Tung is willing to trade a pile of audiences who have loved him singing in Vietnamese with easy-to-listen climax melodies, to challenge himself and bet on a promising but unguaranteed future.
Look at the controversial point
However, Son Tung's direction also has limited aspects. One of the biggest controversial issues is the male singer's English pronunciation, which is mentioned in most songs.
In "Come my way", many opinions say that Son Tung clearly has improved his pronunciation, but it still doesn't sound as flowing as a true international artist. His rhyming and legato are said to be in the Indian music style, leading to the song being "hard to listen to" for many Vietnamese people.
This weakness once appeared in "Making my way", when the audience commented that Son Tung's English voice and timbre did not show the liberal spirit of a song with reggaeton colors combined with electronic music.
On the other hand, Tyga, although bringing international attention, may not be a truly suitable choice for "Come my way".
This song has many Afrobeat sounds, but Tyga is a rapper specializing in West Coast hip-hop, Trap, Pop rap genres. Therefore, his segment in the song is quite safe, even considered less attractive than Tyga's own outstanding products.
