The performance video, Happy For You, by Danish soul-pop band Lukas Graham and Vietnamese singer Hoàng Thái Vũ became the number 1 trending video in the music category of YouTube in Việt Nam after just four days. — Photo billboardvn.vn

HÀ NỘI — A series of musical collaborations between Vietnamese singers and international artists have been released, reaching international listeners and topping domestic charts in recent days.

Give Me Your Love, jointly produced by Vietnamese singer K-ICM and Top 85 DJ Mag 2020 - Plastik Funk, Polmoya and 9tyslac, landed at number two of the iTunes Vietnam charts after only one hour of being released on July 23. The track also marks the first time a Vietnamese singer has had their song released through Hardwell's Revealed Recordings.

The position is considered a milestone for a track in the EDM genre. After half a day of being released, the original mix and extended version of Give Me Your Love ranked at 2nd and 7th place respectively on the iTunes Vietnam chart.

Currently, the track is available on music platforms as well as the official YouTube channel of Revealed Recordings. It has received praise from both international and domestic fans.

“It can be said that, although K-ICM is only 22 years old, this young man has proven his musical talent in many different roles including as a producer, composer and performer,” Vietnamese YouTuber Bảo Ngọc Nguyễn commented.

“Awesome collab. Hope to see K-ICM shining more on Revealed,” wrote another netizen, Cassie Myn.

Earlier, Happy for You, a musical creation of Vietnamese indie artist Hoàng Thái Vũ, also known as Vũ, in collaboration with Danish singer Lukas Graham was also widely shared on social networks. It quickly hit number one on many digital music platforms including iTunes Vietnam, Spotify Vietnam and Apple Music Vietnam.

This song’s MV also became the number one video trending in the music category of YouTube in Việt Nam after four days of its release. As of yesterday noon, four weeks after its release, Happy for You is still in the trending music category on YouTube with 9.2 million views.

“The Warner Music label connected us! Lukas Graham was looking for the right artist in Việt Nam for a collaboration and the record label introduced me to him,” Vũ said about the birth of the song.

“Fortunately, my voice impressed Lukas, and the two of us started working together," he added.

The Vietnamese singer said they could not meet and discuss the song due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, they worked by exchanging emails and text messages during the production of the song which took nearly four months.

“We discussed mostly the meaning and story of the song.I took the time to read it carefully and write my own version with the Vietnamese lyrics but kept it in harmony with the whole song,” he told Thanh Niên (Youth) Newspaper.

After the release, Vũ said that both the Lukas Graham team and the record label were surprised by the harmony of the vocals. Both artists have expressed their wish to be able to perform this song on a stage together in the not too distant future.

Vietnamese musician K-ICM has collaborated with Plastik Funk, Polmoya and 9tyslac to produce Give Me Your Love. Half a day after its release, the original mix and extended version of Give Me Your Love ranked at 2nd and 7th place respectively on the iTunes Vietnam chart. — Photo K-ICM Facebook

Meanwhile, K-ICM said Plastik Funk contacted him after they both performed on Phú Quốc Island in April 2021.

“Then he came to my studio, talked more about my music and observed my process of making music and finalising a product. At that time, he took the initiative to suggest that he wanted to collaborate with me on a music product through Revealed Recordings”, he said.

What has pleased the 22-year-old music producer about the launch of the track is not only the positive feedback from the EDM fan community but also the “good response from Revealed Recordings. They also highly appreciate Vietnamese fans' support for Give Me Your Love.”

If the pandemic is under control, Plastik Funk will return to Việt Nam by the end of this year and is expected to have bigger projects with K-ICM.

Opportunities

According to musician Nguyễn Hồng Thuận, many Vietnamese artists used to have low self-esteem and did not have the confidence to step into the international market. Those that did usually did so through cultural exchange programs.

However, with the support of new technology in recent years artists, audiences and producers from all over the world have been brought closer together, he added.

“The younger generation of Vietnamese artists in particular have become more courageous, talented and daring than their predecessors. They have gradually introduced Vietnamese music to the world in various ways, the most impressive of which is the collaboration between Sơn Tùng M-TP and the American rapper Snoop Dogg,” he said.

“As a musician, I'm glad that there are more and more international collaborations taking place. They may not be effective and successful in the first instance but will become better and stronger over time.” — VNS