Is Noo Phuoc Thinh following in his footsteps?

From the effect of The Weeknd fever, many Vietnamese artists wanted to renew themselves with Synth Pop, Synth Wave music but failed. Can Noo's product "Kidding me hurts" escape that rut?

The Return of Noo Phuoc Thinh is one of the hallmarks of Vietnamese music in 2024. At the beginning of the year, Noo suddenly caused a stir when he performed a mashup of 3 songs Once we knew each other, we will watch fireworks together and If only , on the Green Wave Awards stage. The male singer conquered the audience with his increasingly mature voice and still-sleek appearance at the age of 35.

On the evening of July 17, Noo Phuoc Thinh returned to the Vietnamese music scene with a MV. Just kidding . This is a breakthrough product for Noo, with the Synth Pop color that is popular in major music markets around the world. Breakthrough always comes with risk, and with MV Just kidding , Noo's chances of success will be harder if he continues to move forward and sings a new Pop Ballad song.

Noo round shoulder

Synth Pop - a popular music genre in the late 1990s and early 2000s - has returned and captivated audiences in the past 5 years. Synth Pop is characterized by the dominant sound of synthesizers, combined with basslines and pounding drums, bringing excitement to listeners because of its fast and attractive rhythm.

Noo Phuoc Thinh There was a period of success when singing Dance Pop songs by Do Hieu. The fast tempo of Synth Pop was no problem for Noo. The difference is in I'm kidding, it hurts. Compared to Noo's previous products, the male singer's voice is "covered" with a thicker layer of auto-tune.

“Closing tunes” in Synth-colored songs is almost the current standard. The advantage of auto-tune is to help the voice flow more smoothly, blending with the synthesizer and bassline. In return, auto-tune will limit the singer’s vocal technique and somewhat affect the singing of unclear lyrics. In Just kidding , Noo Phuoc Thinh had to eliminate some of his vocal strengths, especially his emotional qualities, to blend into the unique qualities of Synth Pop.

With this musical color, the song will determine from the beginning that it is very difficult to impress with its content. The beauty of I'm kidding, it hurts. will be distributed mainly in melody, arrangement and Noo's voice.

This is a well-balanced mix by producer Duck V. The layers of sound, especially in the bass range, are stacked on top of each other, but the producer distributes them quite reasonably so that the sounds of the synthesizers, bass and drums all have space to create different colors for the mix. Drops are always a particularly important part of Synth Pop and Synth Wave songs. In Just kidding, it hurts. Unfortunately, the drop is still within the range of melody and safe arrangement and has not led the song's emotions to explode.

"Kidding You With Pain" has a catchy and pleasant melody. This song is ideal to play in many spaces, especially when it needs to be lively and stimulating to the ears. However, when put on the scale of the Vietnamese music market, the chance of success of "Kidding You With Pain" is doubtful, because the product's replayability is not high. Synth Pop is not currently a music color with great appeal to create trends on social networks.

Will Noo return to top 1 trending?

Since the milestone If , Noo Phuoc Thinh is about to reach the 20-year milestone of presence in the Vietnamese music market. During that period, Noo has at least once stood at the peak of Vietnamese music, with hits dominating music charts, having high "viral" levels on multiple media platforms and performance stages.

After the peak of the 2014-2017 period, the male singer fell down and faced double the challenge to reach the top position once again. The mashup at Lan Song Xanh brought Noo's name to cover social networks once again. However, Noo's success at Lan Song Xanh was supported by many factors, the most important of which was that he covered the hits that were popular in the Vietnamese music market.

The singer of "Gất đi nước mật" needs a hit to return to glory. Product I'm kidding, it hurts. has good quality, both the music and the MV. However, this is a music genre that is difficult to succeed because there are too many factors that deviate from the current young audience's taste. In 2022, the synthesizer wave exploded with Don't Break My Heart (Binz), Chill chill afternoon (Ricky Star), Lone Star (Jack), Beautiful Monster (Soobin ft Binz) and many other products. All have the same ending of not being able to conquer Vietnamese audiences.

For Noo, his goal when releasing I'm kidding, it hurts. It could be simpler, just need a change and make a name for himself in the market. Noo's new song is suitable for him to perform in all types of stages.

Noo Phuoc Thinh and Dong Nhi, the duo that caused a stir at one time with If , continue to be the most hardworking and stable singers of their generation. Over the past 5 years, market fluctuations have caused the appeal of Noo and Dong Nhi to decline significantly. However, the two singers still work hard to release products, find young production teams to join the general flow of the current generation of artists.

Source