After a year of obscurity, Den Vau has gradually regained his form with the MV "Cooking for You". The new product of the rapper from Quang Ninh has defeated Son Tung M-TP to hold the number 1 position in trending music on YouTube.

The MV "Nau an cho em" was released on the evening of May 13 and has so far attracted more than 6.5 million views. Compared to Den Vau's recent MVs such as Always love life and Bad actor , the starting point of "Nau an cho em" is much more impressive. Den Vau's success this time largely comes from the male rapper sending a meaningful message, with strong influence, into "Nau an cho em" .

Den Vau announced that all revenue from the MV will be used for the project of building schools and raising children. Therefore, many viewers called for support for the male rapper's new product.

Den Vau returns

Den Vau's previous MV - Always love life - was powerless in the race to compete for the top position in the trending music list on YouTube. That was a milestone showing that Den Vau's appeal in the market was truly threatened, after a series of products had a downward spiral effect.

The decline of Den Vau in 2022 and early 2023 comes from many reasons. The Vietnamese rap fever has cooled down, and Den Vau's MVs were released during a period when there were many big competitors. However, the main reason comes from music.

The male rapper invested a lot in those products, even making great breakthroughs, but the academic nature of Bad Actor and the strong hip hop style of Always Loving Life made many audiences comment on Den Vau: "Not used to this kind of Den Vau".

Den Vau cooks for children in the highlands.

On the other hand, Den Vau has exploited too much of life's material. The lyrics (rap phrases) that carry the spirit of an experienced person, possibly "teaching life" by Den Vau are no longer innovative. The male rapper is lost in the middle of lack of ideas, not creating viral rap lines like: "Bring money home to mom / Don't bring worries home to mom".

This time, Cooking for You is a rap with a different spirit. Den Vau does not tell a story, nor does he present a perspective or raise an issue, but the male rapper dives into a real topic. He directly touches the characters (the children in the highlands), from which he writes music from real inspiration. Den Vau uses music to tell the story and create a spread.

Den Vau restrains the personality of a rapper, with lyrics that reduce the complexity of rhyming and wordplay, focusing on the message. Therefore, there are truncated rhyming lines at the end like "ngo thom / que huong". The male rapper's flow also circulates simply, focusing on "releasing" the words most clearly.

The breakthrough and difference in Den Vau are not shown in the product Cooking for You . However, Den Vau did one thing, which is to appeal to the listener's emotions. And once the song has emotion and story, the remaining elements are no longer important.

PiaLinh's hook has a catchy melody. The MV Cooking for You is the moments when Den Vau brings free meals to children in the highlands. There are too many details for Den Vau to win the hearts of the audience. Regardless of whether this product is good or not in terms of music quality, with Cooking for You, Den Vau has shot an arrow that hits the target.

Den Vau always knows how to appeal to the audience's emotions.

"A Separate Path" of Den Vau

Cooking for You is the 15th MV of Den Vau to hold the number 1 position on YouTube's trending music list. This is an impressive achievement, proving the position of one of the 3 stars whose music has created a fever in the Vietnamese music market in the past 4 years. Besides Den Vau, there are also Son Tung and Jack.

For a rapper like Den Vau, the achievements he has are even rarer.

The rap fan community has divided into two sides when talking about Den Vau's success.

Some say this is the pride of Vietnamese rap, the person who uses almost 100% Vietnamese when writing lyrics. The way Den Vau chooses the theme for the song also has a lot of value. Meanwhile, other opinions say that Den Vau is not the person who exudes the true personality of rap, from appearance to rapping style.

Most rappers are edgy and rugged, wearing costumes and jewelry that are typical of American hip hop culture. Most rappers follow the theme of love, flexing (showing off), reflecting and criticizing social issues. Some rappers affirm their names with rap songs about "partying", bars, clubs, wearing designer clothes, sitting in supercars...

Den Vau is not like that. The male rapper dresses simply, likened to a "farmer who plays rap". There was a thorny Den Vau with pure rap when he appeared more than 10 years ago. Until the milestone of "Dua nhau di troi", Den Vau's musical thinking had escaped the framework of a rapper deeply influenced by the culture of the origin of this music genre. Instead, Den sought simple things.

A rapper in the market gave his perspective on the case of Den Vau: “To me, Den is a miniature image of the existence of rap in the Vietnamese music market. European and American rap is mostly thorny and fierce in personality. In Vietnam, there are still rappers who take the thorny path, flexing successfully, but to have a strong popularity like Den Vau, the topics must reach many audiences. Some people say that rap becomes degenerate when it goes mainstream. To me, it is more correct that rappers must change to choose the path that is most supported by the audience.”

The rap world will forever debate whether or not Den Vau is a true representative of Vietnamese rap. But from the perspective of the general audience, Den is a top-notch rapper, especially when this artist also has positive contributions to society.

Tienphong.vn