Musical Joy
Doan Trang’s “Bang Khuang” is the funniest Vietnamese R&B and hip-hop joint I have ever heard. You have to check out Okio’s rap near the end. Flipping Twista’s style, he flows in Vietnamese, “Honey, you have to go to class tomorrow, so go study.” Wow! Not too many rappers would tell their girl to pick up her book and go study. Most of the time, rappers would tell their girl to drop her books and her panties too.
Also on R&B music, does anyone have “Bai Ca Ho Chi Minh” (The Song of Ho Chi Minh) written by Ewan MacColl (a Cuban musician) and performed by Ho Quynh Huong? The song is a special tribute to Uncle Ho in a rock-up R&B style. I am interested the lyrics because a song about Uncle Ho reminds me of the line that has been stuck in my head for years. It goes something like this, “Nhu co Bac Ho trong nha thuong cho quan, vua moi ra bi xe can u dau,” which loosely translated as “Uncle Ho steps out of a mental hospital, gets hit by a bike, bruises his head.” Please don’t get political on me. I have nothing against Uncle Ho. The man was gone before I were even born. I didn’t know what the heck I was singing when I was a kid.