Ambiguous artist titles, "trash music" is rampant
Recently, the incident of rapper Binh Gold (real name Vu Xuan Binh, born in 1997) using drugs, causing trouble while driving on the highway, and then being arrested for robbery in Hanoi has outraged public opinion.
Binh Gold is a famous rapper, owning a personal channel with more than 1 million followers and rap songs that are popular among young people. However, this rapper has also been involved in many scandals in his career, often criticized by the public for singing vulgar, offensive music that lacks artistic value.
In April, Bình Gold caused controversy when he released the song ADAMN, which had lyrics about drugs. At the end of 2024, the song Doi Thuong by Bình Gold featuring rapper Andree Right Hand also faced a wave of protests from the audience because it contained many rap verses that implied sex and vulgarity.
In the past, this male rapper had to remove a series of MVs such as "Boc bat ho", "Ong ba gia tao lo het", "Ton che me bay len"... because the content lacked ethical standards and promoted a debauched lifestyle and social evils.
Before being involved in a drug scandal, rapper Binh Gold had been involved in many scandals for singing vulgar music (Photo: Facebook character).
From the incident of Binh Gold, the audience also questioned the phenomenon of ambiguous, chaotic titles of "self-proclaimed artists" and a series of low-quality music products, "trash music" flooding the market.
In the first half of this year, a series of songs with meaningless lyrics, reflecting an easygoing, vulgar lifestyle, appeared massively on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube. According to Dan Tri reporters , recently, the song Nu cep by Wxrdie or Ban than em by Huu Stream and Rocky CDE... have offensive lyrics but are loved by young people and are continuously used on platforms.
In 2024, the song Fever by Coldzy and tlinh with its implicit lyrics describing sensitive scenes but not labeled 18+ created many mixed comments. At the end of 2023, B Ray also caused controversy because the song De ai can had vulgar lyrics and a spiteful attitude.
Rapper Coldzy and tlinh were criticized for singing songs with sensitive, sexually suggestive lyrics (Photo: Facebook characters).
Audiences believe that many rappers are taking advantage of the concept of underground activities, "singing to express their personality" while disregarding their social responsibility to the general audience.
In addition, many rappers have been involved in private scandals, with deviant behavior and ethical violations that have made the public fed up. Before Binh Gold, the Vietnamese rapper community has also recently had scandals such as: Rapper Niz was accused by his ex-wife of violence and lack of responsibility; MCK was criticized for his indifferent attitude and many inappropriate statements; 24K.Right, Obito were accused of not being serious in love affairs...
Some viewers left comments: "Why do rappers like that exist in the music industry?"; "Is it true that just by holding a mic, you become a singer, a rapper, easily making money without contributing anything to true art?"; "When music becomes a means for singers to show off, spread negative things, and a dissolute lifestyle, this is no longer a problem of trash music but has become a social problem"...
Toxic Music Exposure: What Happens?
Experts and audiences say that rap music has grown strongly in recent years. Many young rappers have become idols of a large audience thanks to their unique music and creative artistic thinking. However, the line between expressing one's ego and rebellion in both music and everyday life of rappers still needs to be limited and must comply with good customs and moral standards.
The fact that singers live a loose life, lack standards in speech and behavior, along with obscene products, spreading "distorted" ideology... has many potential negative risks, directly affecting music lovers, the majority of whom are young people.
The song "Doi Thuong Thi" by Andree Right Hand and Binh Gold is embroiled in controversy due to its sexual content (Photo: Facebook characters).
Musician Nguyen Van Chung believes that each musician has his own point of view, depending on the working environment and cultural background. Some people value artistic value, some value commercial value, some balance those two factors, and some value personality and shocking elements to get attention. That is the reason why many songs appear with vulgar lyrics, explicit and unrestrained content.
"The audience is the main beneficiary of music and has the right to judge whether a song is vulgar or not. Obviously, young people - those who do not have a clear orientation in life - are easily drawn into the ideology and lifestyle of famous people, thinking that it is an interesting and unique style," Nguyen Van Chung told Dan Tri reporter.
Master of Psychology Dang Hoang An analyzed that artistic music has a strong influence on human psychology. When people are regularly exposed to vulgar music, "trash music", they will gradually lose sensitivity to offensive things.
"Vulgar songs, songs that promote a dissolute, materialistic, or even violent lifestyle, can be considered "normalized" by the audience and gradually accepted, even causing listeners to imitate," said expert Hoang An.
According to experts, music with poor quality content, promoting a pragmatic and uncontrolled lifestyle, will affect the moral standards and behavior of young people. Therefore, useless songs also reduce the ability to perceive true artistic values, making young people more lax in choosing cultural products.
Despite its silly content, the song "My Best Friend" has been promoted by many TikTokers recently (Photo: Screenshot).
Mr. Dang Hoang An also emphasized that social networks today have been creating viral trends at a dizzying speed, leading many audiences to fall into a state of FOMO (Fear of missing out). The development of TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook also contributes to spreading nonsense and toxic music content to listeners easily and quickly.
At that time, many young people easily followed the trending songs to feel that they were not "out of date" or "out of the loop". In fact, many meaningless and nonsense music pieces still aroused the curiosity of young people, easily entered the trending list, popularized on social media platforms and helped creators earn money and attract millions of views.
“Garbage music” often has catchy, danceable beats and controversial lyrics – the perfect ingredients for creating short-term, attention-grabbing trends. It’s seen as a temporary social “bridge.” When people listen to the same song or participate in a challenge, they feel like they’re part of a larger group.
This brings a sense of security and belonging, even if only superficially. And this can also be a compromise with the fear of loneliness, when young people seek recognition and belonging through easy content," expert Hoang An analyzed.
"Sweeping trash music": Cut off the top, what about the roots?
This is not the first time the issue of "trash music" and "deviant artists" has caused public outrage. The issue of preventing, censoring, and removing harmful artistic products has been discussed by audiences and management agencies for many years, but there are still many difficulties and so it has not been completely resolved.
Rapper B Ray had to remove the song "De ai can" after controversy over vulgar lyrics that insult women (Photo: character's Facebook).
In fact, offensive songs still have a place to live in the era of information explosion on online platforms and social networks.
Media expert Nguyen Ngoc Long believes that punishing and removing vulgar and offensive music products is necessary. But if we stop there, we will only cut off the tip.
To deal with the root cause of "trash music" and build a healthy artistic environment, society needs to shift from a negative mindset to a positive constructive strategy. In other words: Banning the bad is not enough, we must also nurture the good.
"We need to ask the opposite question: why is healthy music and decent art less known, less spread, and less trending? The answer lies in the fact that currently, the entertainment and media ecosystem has not created a "living space" for decent artists and decent products.
"Musicians who write clean, thoughtful lyrics, artists who pursue cultural depth, or indie and underground bands with serious artistic thinking often have much more difficulty reaching the public, simply because they don't know or don't want to follow the crowd's tastes," said Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Long.
According to experts, besides punishing the bad, we need to invest systematically and build cultural policies to support the good.
"When society only sees music as instant entertainment, "trash music" will still have a place to live. But when we teach children to love a song for its message, for its emotion, for its depth, then decent music will no longer be a weak minority," Mr. Long stated his opinion.
Musician Nguyen Van Chung also believes that tightening management, orienting aesthetic and artistic tastes, and building a cultural foundation for young people play an important role in eliminating toxic music. However, the musician believes that "trash music" cannot last as long as mainstream music because of market rejection.
"Many songs easily attract millions of views in a short time, but for that song to be recognized by industry insiders and live long in the hearts of the audience is another story.
The market is the fairest and harshest place. There, artists are required to constantly strive and work seriously. If they try to attract attention, they will sooner or later be eliminated," said musician Nguyen Van Chung.
A serious redefinition of the title "artist"
Some people think that a group of young singers and rappers are egotistical and delusional about their positions, so they behave and speak in a way that goes against the title of "artist" that they are assigned. In addition, a group of the public today seems to be easygoing in accepting, praising, and giving glory to those who are widely labeled as singers, rappers, and artists.
In February 2024, rapper MCK was criticized for leaving the Blue Wave trophy on the trash can lid in the bathroom (Photo: Screenshot).
Media expert Nguyen Ngoc Long commented that the Vietnamese music market is being diluted by gimmicky, noisy songs that lack artistic value but appear massively on trending lists and social networks. Since then, the title "artist" has become increasingly loose and lost its value in the eyes of the public. Artists have also become socially irresponsible, easily engaging in deviant behavior.
"It's time for society and the public to seriously redefine the title "artist". Not everyone can receive those two words just because they have a large following. People who are called artists must be worthy of their talent, ethics and artistic dedication, not because they know how to create noise in their personal lives or cram controversial lyrics to attract attention.
"If there is no clear mechanism to distinguish between real artists and those who create content to attract views, there will come a time when art will no longer be the domain of enthusiasts, but only a "fashionable coat" of those who know how to polish their names with tricks," Mr. Long frankly expressed.
Master Dang Hoang An believes that, from a sociological perspective, to improve popular aesthetic taste and "redefine the title of artist", there needs to be coordination from many sides, the joint efforts of the whole society to orient young people towards positive cultural values and develop a healthier artistic environment.
"Families and schools need to strengthen education and value orientation for young people from an early age. The media should promote and honor quality and valuable music products.
Artists and producers need to be aware of their role, creating works of artistic value and humanity, instead of following cheap trends. Authorities need to have clear regulations and strictly handle music products and individuals who violate standards," said Mr. Hoang An.
Sharing more with Dan Tri reporter , Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education - said that when famous people lack a foundation of ethics, education and professional skills, and lack a healthy cultural environment, they can easily fall.
Associate Professor Dr. Bui Hoai Son hopes that artists not only aim to become stars, but also be people with depth, responsible for themselves and for society.
"In an era where a name can rise after just one product, but can also collapse because of just one moment of recklessness, preserving image, ethics and spirit is more important than ever," said Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Hoai Son.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giai-tri/tu-vu-binh-gold-lam-gi-voi-nhac-rac-va-danh-xung-nghe-si-xuong-cap-20250724154335905.htm
Comment (0)