Modern Vietnamese Music I Actually Dig

Vietnamese music is... not for everyone. This is probably an understatement! But after 7 years, I've finally started to 'get it' and I couldn't be happier about it.

Den, my favorite Vnese rapper... a true gem.

While Japanese music has its faithful adherents and K-Pop is having its biggest-ever moment, with BTS and Blackpink actually singing entire songs in English and catering to a worldwide audience, other Asian countries have been somewhat left in the dust. That's not to say there's nothing here worthy of the world's attention, however!

When I first got to Vietnam in (holy shit) 2013, I absolutely hated, HATED, all the music I heard. This is because most of what I heard was bolero (largely wistful songs of love, loss, and an imagined idyllic countryside existence of yesteryear). I'm also not a romantic and don't much care for ballads, so this whole package is massively unappealing to me.

In recent years, however, I've had the pleasure of being proven very, very wrong.

Click through for my thoughts, and my favorite Vietnamese pop, rap, and hip hop music videos!

5 Kinda Great Vietnamese Holiday Songs

yeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhh they're oooooookayyyy

Last week I threw down the gauntlet of holiday songs, shazaaming the hell out of a few cafes and coming up with my least favorite Vietnamese holiday tunes. Here's the other half: the ones I kinda like!

I've been pretty consistent that there's one thing that I just can't seem to get into here, and that's Vietnamese music. I just... don't care for it much. Yes. Let's just leave it at that.

It's a bit late in the season, but here are 4 songs I've heard over the holidays that... well, they don't make me want to self-lobotomize with a chopstick, they're that good.

But don't take my word for it!

And lately... well, I can't put my finger on it, but it probably has something to do with feelings. Stockholm Syndrom feelings. Because, these songs... they are making me bounce a little. Just a little! (It might have something to do with my slow acceptance of standard cafe music, check it out.)

The 5th is another Evil Bonus, direct from me to you! Watch at your own risk! You WILL NOT stop singing it.

I could only find four. I may not hate ALL the songs I hear, but I'm not a miracle worker.

Bah Humbug - Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

Ho Chi Mix City: Soundtrack to a Vietnamese Coffeehouse

Romance is in the air at Cafe Tram.

It's been a looooooong time since I've put up any mixes (the Christmas song posts don't count... neither good nor bad)... too long!

Here's a post that I've been meaning to do for quite a while - over a year, in fact. It's just silly, but consider it a Christmas gift from me to you!

BEHOLD: a Youtube playlist so that YOU, TOO, can pretend that you're spending hours a day in a Vietnamese Coffeeshop!

You read that right.

I sat and Shazaamed (wow, I'm getting a lot of use out of that app lately) songs for 90 minutes, then listed them in a playlist, in order and as I heard them. Naturally some Vietnamese songs were impossible to identify, but, really? You're not missing out on much. Here's the rest...

...and MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Enjoy - I know I did!

6 Cringey Vietnamese Christmas Songs

Me in my first grade classrooms last year, playing the Jolly Old Elf himself.

Vietnamese loooooove Christmas. And, while I didn't get/have to dress up this year for my job, I still got my fill of the regional holiday music.

Endless techno Jingle Bell remixes. Cloying, sugary, soaring ballads. Mariah Carey covers every hour, on the hour (...actually not so bad. What is it about that song?? Will we be collectively singing it forever? Is it - gasp - traditional now?? OMG please say it is). Feliz Navidad, inexplicably, and quite a bit of it.

Last year I kept meaning to document this visit to another aural dimension, where a driving synth beat is practically mandatory on the uptempo hits, but things got hectic.

This year, however, I'm on my game. Armed with cafe time, Shazaam, and fair-to-middling doses of ibuprofen to pair with my coffee, I took the plunge.

Lucky you. Oh, lucky, lucky you!

Click on, brave souls with a few minutes to spare... I dug out the youtube recordz for you, and I've got a few tracks to spin! Listen and marvel as Vietnam attempts to give you diabetes over the internet...

What is Vietnamese Ancestor Worship?

An altar in a medium-sized business. Altars are
definitely status symbols - hierarchy is hugely important
in virtually every facet of Vietnamese life and culture.

Through centuries of various foreign influences, from the fundamental (Vietnam's latin-character alphabet) to the superficial (Western influence on wedding style, or the celebration of birthdays), Vietnam has been largely successful in maintaining ancient traditions and incorporating them into modern life, even as the pace of change continues to accelerate. That is no mean feat!

One of the most unifying traditional practices in Vietnam is ancestor worship.

Virtually no Vietnamese house or business, no matter the size or socio-economic status, is without an altar to venerate the dead of their family. Regardless of faith, it is a uniting practice in the country to thank those ancestors that have come before and paved the way for the successes that you and your family have experienced (or not, in which case, more incense and fruit to bring peace to the dead, and therefore success to the living).

This concept is so utterly foreign to me that I can't help but be fascinated. What follows is my personal exploration of this very private celebration of family, continuity, and identity.

Click through for an idea of what this tradition consists of and how it forms the foundation for many, many other aspects of Vietnamese culture!