Rapper Suboi has been the first Vietnamese artist to appear at the global music festival, South by Southwest (SXSW).
The rapper wrote on her Facebook page that she was happily surprised by the news after a previous unsuccessful application to SXSW. She was among 1,500 artists invited to take part in this year’s event, which drew about 15,000 candidates from around the world.
Held annually in Austin since 1987, SXSW has been a destination for innumerable artists whose names are known across the globe and across genres like Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg and Norah Jones – to name but a few.
Suboi already performed this year in the US at San Francisco’s CAAMfest, organised every March by the Centre for Asian American Media. The festival is the largest showcase of Asian American and Asian films in the US.
But performing at SXSW will be an important stepping stone in Suboi’s career, helping her to enter the global music market, said one of her media representatives.
She was called “Viet Nam’s Queen of Hip-Hop” by The Wall Street Journal and The Daily Beast.
The Wall Street Journal article declared that, “this year, Suboi is introducing US audiences to her Vietnamese rap style which, whether performing in Vietnamese, English or a blend of the two sounds strong and assured, like she might be her country’s Queen Latifah or Ms Hill.”
The Daily Beast also wrote a piece saying, “25-year-old hip-hop artist Suboi is a massive success in her own right.”
This is not the first time that the Vietnamese rapper has received attention from foreign media. In 2013, she was profiled in a story run in the UK newspaper The Guardian.
Born in 1990, Suboi was given the name Hang Lam Trang Anh by her parents. Today, and with a new name, she is on Forbes Vietnam’s list of 30 under 30.
She was first introduced to hip hop at 14 years old and eventually became a known rapper in the underground scene.
Suboi’s name then became more widely known after performing two songs, Xin Hay Tha Thu (Forgive, Please) and Girl’s Night, with singer Ho Ngoc Ha in 2009. She now has over a million followers on Facebook.
She released two albums – Walk in 2010 and Run in 2014 – and six singles. Her album Run has been sold on Itunes in over 100 countries.
Her music has sampled from and mixed various influences from rap, hip hop and dubstep genres.
Last year, she also had an international presence, performing at the Tornado Music Festival in Niseko, Japan.
VNS
First Vietnamese rapper performs in US
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