Son Tung M-TP – Vietnamese Pop Artist
SON TUNG M-TP: THE MAN WHO BROUGHT V-POP INTO OUR HOMES
How many of us listened to Vietnamese pop music so far, or who have we heard of from this genre? The recent works of a 25-years-old artist Son Tung M-TP have unlocked the gate between Vietnam’s music industry and the rest of the world.
Trending No.1 On YouTube, Vietnamese Singer-Songwriter And Actor.
Although some of his songs were heavily criticized for resembling other works, this didn’t stop Tung from gaining fame.
Son Tung, with the full name Nguyen Thanh Tung, was born on July 5, 1994, in Thai Binh. His singing abilities were discovered by his parents when he was only two years old.
EARLY LIFE
He started to play the keyboard at Thai Binh’s Children’s Arts and Culture Place at the age of eight. His musical talent didn’t come off as shock value, as his mother was a guitarist and his father played seven instruments. Despite his apparent skills, Tung’s parents wanted him to study business; however, he wasn’t very keen.
He formed an amateur group called Over Band in 2009 with his classmates. The songs they uploaded on the internet attracted the attention of other Vietnamese artists.
Eventually, one of them invited him to join their hip hop group Young Pilots. Their 2010 hit “Con Mua Ngang Qua” became successful in Thai Binh and received the Song of the Month Award at the Vietnamese TV show Favorite Song.
MUSIC CAREER
He released some singles in 2013, which brought him nationwide recognition. The song Em cua ngay hom qua was streamed in Vietnam 100 million times within three months.
However, the instant success raised some controversy as it was claimed that some of Tung’s songs were plagiarized. Although Tung denied the claims.
In 2014, he regained his artistic status with a semi-biographical film called Dandelion, which was based on the life of Wandi Tuan Anh (singer).
The soundtracks of the movie were also criticized because of copyright issues, so Tung was forced to produce a new version. Despite the backlash about the music, the film became very successful in Box Office and earned Tung a Golden Kite Prize (Vietnam’s Oscars).
In 2015, he appeared on the Reality show called the Remix but had to quit after six episodes due to health issues. He was also suspended and sued by his production company for violating the contract and the schedule prepared for him.
He also had his first major concert in a big city, Ho Chi Minh, for which 8000 tickets were sold in only two weeks. At the end of 2015, he received an MTV Europe Music Awards for the Best Southeast Asian Act.
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In 2017, he founded his record label called M-TP Entertainment. The songs he released in 2017 became instant hits, while their videos were the fastest Asian music videos to reach 100 million views on YouTube.
Later in 2017, he wrote an autobiography that sold ten thousand copies in the first two days of its launch.
Earlier in July this year, Tung collaborated with Snoop Dogg and released the hit “Give It to Me,” receiving 25.8 million views on YouTube its first day. This was a record-breaking time among all Vietnamese music videos.
