HANOI, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The twangy notes of "xam," a centuries-old northern Vietnamese folk singing once performed by blind buskers in marketplaces and villages, rarely echo through modern beats of Vietnam. For many young people, "xam" is unfamiliar and overshadowed by contemporary rhythms and digital culture.
However, Vietnamese pop star Soobin Hoang Son gives "xam" a breath of fresh air by fusing modern rap and pop aesthetics and folk iconography in his latest music video "Muc ha vo nhan," meaning seeing no one below your gaze. It offers a contemporary glimpse into traditional culture, one that even children find catchy.
Le T.T. Huyen, aged 35 from Hanoi, said she was surprised to see her son drawn by the sounds of the song.
"I didn't expect him to notice any of that," Huyen said. "He's usually only into cartoon theme songs, but suddenly he was asking what musical instruments were used in the video, why the costumes looked different, and what the paintings meant."
The work, garnering 3 million views within three days of its release, takes audiences back to a northern Vietnamese countryside shaped by the spirit of "xam."
"I love folk songs and traditional musical instruments," Soobin said at the launch of his video. "I want to bring the elements into my work, making it live on by young people."
This month, he plans to launch the "Xam to Schools" program, partnering with the Vietnam Center for Promotion and Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage, to bring the art form to students across three regions.
The revival extends far beyond "xam" as different kinds of traditional art forms are reimagined in creative ways.
At FPT University, operated under Vietnamese tech giant FPT, a student-led communications campaign called "Neo cheo," or preserving Vietnamese traditional opera, is renewing cheo, a centuries-old art form that blends folk songs with instrumental music and dance into stories drawn from legends, poetry, history and even daily life.
Tran Duc Anh, a 21-year-old member of the "Neo cheo" team, said the project began with curiosity. "Cheo has its own charm and we kept asking ourselves why something so beautiful seems distant to young audiences."
The team surveyed young people and discovered that most wanted to encounter the traditional opera through new formats combined with rap, electronic dance music, or acoustic arrangements.
Armed with these insights, the team then produced the animated music video "Duyen phan phai chieu," which means a fated love one is bound to obey, even as it slips away.
The work has resonated powerfully with young audiences, with comments flooding in expressing delight that centuries-old cheo melodies could feel emotionally relevant. Some described that watching it gave them goosebumps, while an overseas Vietnamese saw it as a way to reconnect with her homeland culture.
"We redesigned characters and costumes in animated forms and refreshed ancient melodies with electronic dance music and hip-hop elements," said Do Phuong Linh, Anh's teammate. She voiced the team's happiness as the animated work has received a warm welcome from the audience.
Pop singer Hoa Minzy also sparked widespread interest with her music video "Bac Bling," which blends "quan ho," a UNESCO-listed love duet tradition characterized by poetic call-and-response singing, with pop and rap elements. The song got over 100 million views worldwide within a month, proving that folk motifs could captivate global audiences when presented through a modern lens.
Mai Van Lang, deputy director of the Vietnam Center for Preservation of Traditional Performing Arts, viewed these experiments as aligning with broader national preservation efforts.
He noted that following the 2021 National Cultural Conference, a landmark event reaffirming culture as the nation's spiritual foundation, traditional culture preservation has become a priority, with both professional and amateur artists encouraged to revive folk heritage.
He particularly expressed his enthusiasm when seeing younger generations' devotion to renewing traditional culture, calling it "not a short-term trend but a long-term cultural shift."
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with outstanding youth and urged them to lead the digitization of cultural data to safeguard traditional heritage like "xam," "cheo," and "tuong." ■