“United as one ‘cuz we’re from high on the grounds. Just like brothers, from the Kinh, Tay, Nung, to the Dao.” Those are the sounds that not only are imbued with ethnic cultural traits but also clearly express the change of the times, sung by an uplander rapper. With his memorable marks in his music career, Double2T is no stranger to music lovers among the public. Recently, after his performance at Shark Club, “the dope uplander” had some meaningful thoughts to share with MGI Magazine’s followers.
Double2T and the journey of conquering a special music genre
Double2T’s real name is Bui Xuan Truong, and is known as one of the rookies in the rapping industry. Emerging from a mountainous area full of hardships, soon developing an interest from humming to his childhood tunes, Double2T never thought of one day that he would stand on the stage, performing his very own distinctive melodies. From his remote villages, Double2T came step by step closer to rapping through an old television. However, when standing in between his passion and career, and had to put aside his music dream. Going through many different jobs, unexpected chances took him back to this promising path once again.
Sharing about his journey to conquer music, Double2T remarked: “To me, I sense that the biggest hardship of myself and some colleagues is balancing between our life and our passion, and what makes it harder is that we don’t have the sufficient supporting devices to pursue that passion”. Having pushed through these difficulties, Double2T along with his inspiration and meticulous research brought “a new breeze” to rap in particular and music in general.
Double2T - owner of a series of “viral” hits on social media
With the determination of living his fullest to his dreams once again, Double2T showed up on season 3 of Rap Viet. His worries about his father’s post-accident health made him feel like giving up on everything to return to his family. Afterwards, his father’s encouragements helped him stepping forward strongly, starting his journey with his first-time experiences like his first time on an airplane, his first time coming to Ho Chi Minh City as well as his first time to take part in a big TV show and meet well-known artists whom he only had the chance to watch via TV before, etc.
Successfully building an image of a “dope uplander” with his distinctive music style, Double2T was quickly embraced by the public. His rap songs, which take inspirations from his personal stories combined with folk music traits through the melodies of Then singing, the sounds of gourd lute (also known as “đàn tính”, a stringed musical instrument of the Tay ethnic group) and leaf-horn, have constantly gone viral on social media platforms, including “Thanh Am Mien Nui” (Sound of the Mountains), “Nguoi Mien Nui Chat” (The Dope Uplander), “A Loi” (Oh Wow), etc.
His meaningful lyrics, which have both lit up his passion for music and praised the beauty of Northwestern Vietnam ethnic culture, helped Double2T become the champion of Rap Viet season 3. This ethnic-style rapping style along with his lyrics so close and simple to life has become a familiar melody that makes it easy to spot someone humming to them on the streets. Having received so much love from the public, Double2T is extremely grateful and wants to continue to contribute more meaningful values to the preservation of Vietnam ethnic cultural beauty.
Double2T’s promising future with humane activities
After his memorable journey at Rap Viet with his life-changing turn on the champion’s throne, Double2T had the chance to reach the big stages, to meet and learn from the best Vietnamese rappers. Upon sharing about his future plans, the “voice from the mountains” Double2T claimed: “I still need to learn even more to develop my own career. Besides, I also want to collaborate with some suitable artists to produce unique rap songs together, combining it with the sound and language of mountainous ethnic languages, hence connecting different regions of Vietnam and promoting our ethnic cultural picture to the world.”
With such a specific route, Double2T is bound to continue to shine on his journey to conquer music. Stay tuned and accompany this talented rapper to not miss the impressive twist and turns of rapping in particular and music in general.
Karlfya | Cameron Truong
