The Singles Jukebox

The greatest number ever of first-day views for a Vietnamese music video…

[Video]
[5.29]David Moore: One thing listening to 1,000 songs a week from various Spotify New Music playlists from other countries and regions has done is given me a little window into American star moonlighting in foreign charts. The best two I’ve heard so far are Gucci Mane doing a surprisingly well-realized Goofus and Gallant sketch on the Danish rapper Emil Stabil’s “En Sang” and, in the other direction (i.e. re-releases of American singles for international markets with regional features), Italian rapper Capo Plaza, an adept student of the current vogue of modal sing-rapping, on New Music Italia‘s release of A Boogie Wit da Hoodie’s “Look Back At It.” This one lands toward the middle of the heap, with Snoop Dogg providing the rap equivalent of an auto-generated Gmail response (does it cost extra for Snoop to actually name-check the artist in his verse?) while Sơn Tùng M-TP works his butt off to make the song work in between. And it does, sort of!
[6]

Jessica Doyle: Let’s get an assist from the World Bank for this one: “Vietnam is today a significantly more educated and healthy society than 20 years ago, and these qualities are equitably distributed… There is an emerging middle class — currently accounting for 13 per cent of the population but expected to reach 26 per cent by 2026… In 2016, 99 per cent of the population used electricity as their main source of lighting, up from 14 per cent in 1993… From 1990 to 2015, the maternal mortality rate fell from 233 to 58.3 deaths per 100,000 live births and infant mortality dropped from 44 deaths per 1000 live births to 15 — with no difference between male and female infants. Women’s economic empowerment has also steadily improved in Vietnam over the past decade.” Because “Hãy Trao Cho Anh” as a song by itself is derivative down to the last brrah; there’s nothing compelling about it. But it serves to suggest that Vietnam now has an economy robust enough for its listeners to demand their own slick luxury pop, and for that it should be celebrated. You don’t see Snoop Dogg going to Uzbekistan to turn in desultory cameos, do you? Not yet, at least. Fingers crossed.
[4]

Michael Hong: If you’re an East Asian artist attempting a crossover into another market with a track that blends tropical house and hip-hop, featuring Snoop Dogg is… an interesting choice. However, the track is enjoyable, with the production hitting on K-pop’s infatuation with Latin music to make for one of the bounciest tracks of the year. Both parties manage to ride that bounce effectively, but with a level of restraint that keeps it from ever reaching the heights suggested by a headline like “Prince of Vietnamese Pop Releases Song with Snoop Dogg.”
[7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Reggaeton (or at least a bastardized version of it) travels surprisingly well, and Snoop sounds as energized as he can be in 2019. But the center of the track is a void of charisma — nothing noteworthy in any direction, but a perfectly decent summer bop if you’ve got nothing better.
[5]

Kylo Nocom: “Hãy Trao Cho Anh” is a bit of a tired exercise in over-polished modern reggaeton, where only individual parts (the channel-panning “la-la-la” hook, the blast of fake horns, the subtle drum fills, the sweet ebb and flow of Sơn Tùng M-TP’s voice throughout) just slightly impress. Had this song been shorter, maybe its groove would be more effective, but as is the track doesn’t nearly strike as much as it could have. Although, my friends have been trying to have their Vietnamese dance group recognized by our school’s yearly multicultural program, and I can easily envision this track fitting in nicely with their set. When the program’s been highlighting K-pop and Chinese groups for years, to the expense of dance groups that don’t nearly have as much American cultural attention, “Hãy Trao Cho Anh” seems like a song that can help show off a demographic of Gen Z Asian-Americans that gets neglected too often. I can imagine the first verse and chorus playing on our shitty auditorium speakers during my friends’ performance, fading out right before Snoop Dogg’s corny-ass verse sinks the whole thing.
[5]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: This would benefit from some editing — the dembow beat isn’t convincing until the song’s final stretch, and at that point the song already feels overlong. Sơn Tùng M-TP gives an inspired performance as usual, and while Snoop Dogg’s verse is dumb, it provides a necessary musical detour. This mostly just feels like a waste of Sơn Tùng’s abilities.
[4]

Iain Mew: Sơn Tùng’s easy way with aqueous, moody R&B-pop is already well established. This one ditches any greater ambition than treading water in favour of becoming the 13th most popular “ft. Snoop Dogg” by YouTube views.
[6]