Still feelin’ the old-school, street love from Method Man and Mary J. Blige on “I’ll Be There For You (remix).” Dig the lyrics, too:

Shorty, I’m there for you anytime you need me
For real girl, it’s me in your world, believe me
Nuttin’ make a man feel better than a woman
Queen with a crown that be down for whatever
There are few things that’s forever, my lady
We can make war or make babies
Back when I was nothin’
You made a brother feel like he was somethin’
That’s why I’m with you to this day boo no frontin’
Even when the skies were gray
You would rub me on my back and say “Baby it’ll be okay”
Now that’s real to a brother like me baby
Never ever give my pussy away and keep it tight aight
And I’ma walk these dogs so we can live
In a fat-ass crib with thousands of kids
Word life, you don’t need a ring to be my wife
Just be there for me and I’ma make sure we
Be livin’ in the fuckin’ lap of luxury
I’m realizin’ that you didn’t have to fuck with me
But you did, now I’m going all out kid
And I got mad love to give, you my Nigga.

I got a love jonz for your body and your skin tone
Five minutes alone I’m already on the bone
Plus I love the fact you got a mind of your own
No need to shop around you got the good shit at home
Even if I’m locked up North you in the world
Wrapped in three-fourths of cloth never showin’ your stuff off, boo
It’ll be true me for you that how it is
I be your Noah, you be my Wiz
I’m your Mister, you my Mrs. with hugs and kisses
Valentine cards and birthday wishes? Please
Be on another level of planning, of understanding
The bond between man and woman, and child
The highest elevation, cuz we above
All that romance crap, just show your love.

As I am reading a review on Asia 51: Tinh Khuc Sau Cuoc Chien written by Viet Hai, I am wondering if Asia productions had paid him to pen it or he is just up in their ass. In the intro, he stated that Asia have stepped up their game after their last big-bang show on Tran Thien Thanh. Give me a break. Asia folks are not only stepping in the same place, but they are also taking a leap backward with the latest release. The theme, Tinh Khuc Sau Cuoc Chien, they came up was just to give them a reason to squeeze more cash out of old tunes.

The music arrangements in this video don’t sound any better than what they had done before, and the pairing up of singers makes absolutely no sense at all. Don Ho with chinky Barbie? She’s not even cute, and her sissy, ditsy voice is still annoying. Le Thu and Da Nhat Yen is like a before and after diet commercial. Le Thu is what you look like before, and Da Nhat Yen is what you will look like after. Before, you’re fat but you can sing. After, you’re loosing weight as well as voice. The good part is that DNY still got the groove. What the hell is up with Lam Thuy Van, posing like she’s ready to be boned? Who wants to bone that gladiator anyway? The mash-up between her and Ngoc Lan is horrendous. Asia musical producers have been using that technique a bit too much. Then they have seven sexless guys trying to be sexy (suit jacket without under shirt) on “Anh Van Biet.” Get the fuck out the here. And don’t you want to pull that dog-haired wig off Kim Anh’s head? I thought Doanh Doanh was bad, she is even worse: old, plastic-molded Barbie.

Speaking of old women, why don’t they act their age? Hearing the way Thanh Lan talks and laughs just ruined the strong-minded image I had for her on the previous opening video. Mama, you ain’t 16 no more. The same goes with Thao My. Not sure what she’s showing because she got none. Please cover them up, forty-year-old breasts are for your man, not the public. I have enough of Mai Le Huyen trying to get her move on. Does she need a dickslap in order for her to stand still or something? Is Asia blind or they are being dumb? I love the way Y Phuong starts off “Tra No Tinh Xa” with a bluesy feel until MLH comes in and fucks it all up with her screaming. By the time the arrangement is all rocked up, Y Phuong’s strong vocals can’t even save the track. Nothing but excessive noise filled up the stage.

The solo pieces are disappointing as well. Nguyen Khang’s rendition of “Rong Reu” is nothing invigorating. In fact, it has some of Tuan Ngoc’s resemblances. Particularly when he glides into the offbeat technique, something even Tuan Ngoc couldn’t pull off. (If you listen to Tuan Ngoc’s version of “Rong Reu,” “Ban Tinh Cuoi,” and “Bien Nho,” you’ll see how he attempts to sing the off-key style. Not sure if it is because of our Vietnamese language, but it doesn’t sound right. The only person who could sing off key and sound natural is Billie Holiday. Her timing had always been perfect.) Back to solo performers, is Bang Tam faking or what? She’s weeping out with water running down her noise, and she didn’t even wipe it. If you want to make the audience feels emotional, you have to convey it through your voice not necessarily your face—unless you’re an actor not singer. In “Cai Co,” I hear nothing in her voice because she sings the entire song with one tone, and yet she’s all cried out. The facial expression doesn’t go with the musical expression at all. Even if she has cried for real, she still looks phony to me.

The theme for Asia 51 is to embrace “golden music.” I have no problem with music of Ngo Thuy Mien, Tran Quang Nam, Nguyen Trung Cang, and Duc Huy being called “nhac vang” after the war. But when they profiled Trish’s music in this category, and called Cardin’s shit as music of our future, we have a big fucking problem. (And let me not get into that little midget with the “Viet Pride” tagged on his jacket. How lame is that?)

Damn, another sleepless night. The coffee was kicking in, but not strong enough to cause insomnia. My mind was onto something else (something real special), and my brain was rushing like adrenaline on fire; therefore, I needed some soothing music to calm down my nerves. I pulled out three of my favorite past-bedtime soundtracks—Don Ho and Ngoc Lan’s Con Duong Tinh Ta Di, Tinh Phu, and Xin Con Goi Ten Nhau, all released between 1992 and 1993 under Giang Ngoc, one of the first productions in the early Vietnamese-American days. Unfortunately, they had shut down their shop.

Giang Ngoc had a strange marketing strategy. Even though they grouped the two together, Don Ho always had more songs (6 to 4) than Ngoc Lan. My guess is that Ngoc Lan had already established her name at the time, and Don Ho was just getting his feet wet; therefore, people who liked Ngoc Lan would pick up these albums, and give Don Ho a spin. Giang Ngoc productions were right, Don Ho was new at singing Vietnamese “golden” ballads, but that what made these albums shined. He was inexperienced, but he had tremendous soul. His flows were as natural as breathing, and he poured his heart out on every single song. I was impressed at how he was able to transform himself from English and translated tunes into Vietnamese romantic ballads with such refinement and effortlessness. He nailed “Ngu Di Em,” “Chieu Nay Khong Co Em,” “Loi Tinh Buon,” “Em Den Tham Anh Dem 30,” “Goi Ten Bon Mua,” “Xin Hay Quen Toi,” ” Kiep Dam Me,” “Khuc Thuy Du,” “Chiec La Cuoi Cung,” “Dem Vu Truong,” “Dau Tinh Sau,” “Vet Thuong Cuoi Cung,” “Vet Thu Tren Lung Ngua Hoang,” and “Xin Con Goi Ten Nhau” dead on the spot with his relaxed, feathery, whispery, and deeply personalized style.

On the other hand, angelic-voiced Ngoc Lan drowned her souls and sorrows into “Tha Nhu Giot Mua,” “Giet Nguoi Trong Mong,” “Le Da,” “Mua Thu Cho Em,” and “Tinh Phu.” Not only she could express sentimental ballads, but Ngoc Lan could also maneuver her flow around up-tempo beats. The smoothness, richness, and silkiness quality in her vocals made her rendition of “Trung Vuong Khung Cua Mua Thu” unsurpassable. Yet, what amazed me the most was her cover of “Vi Toi La Linh Muc.” I was dead wrong when I thought only male singers could sing this tune. She had not only proved that my assumption was incorrect, but she also demonstrated how she could take it to another level from a female point of view. She pulled it off with her ethereal, exotic aesthetics.

What are lacking on these albums are the duets. I wish they had done more than just two tracks together because I love how his low, smoky tone complements her high and clear pitch and vice versa. “Biet Dau Nguoi Cuoi” showed the playful interaction between the voices as well as their rhythmic sensibility. In contrast, they took the time to express the lyrics in the slow-tempo “Con Duong Tinh Ta Di,” like two matured lovers reflecting on the good old days. Mad props to Thanh Lam too for the gorgeous saxophone accompaniment. Personally, these three albums had opened up the gate to the Vietnamese music scene for me, and I must credit both Don Ho and Ngoc Lan for allowed me to appreciate our original music.

New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones introduces Boredoms, a noise/punk-rock group straight from Japan. Their music is anything but boring.

Julia Thuy gives Tu Cong Phung’s “Nhu Chiec Que Diem” a shade of blues. Nice work, girl!

Damn! Ngoc Khue plagiarized Nguyen Thi Minh Thuong’s “Cha Va Mua Thu” almost word for word, and yet she is unapologetic about it. Very disappointing!

Ngoc Lan sang Trinh Cong Son. Love her rendition of “Biet Dau Nguon Coi.” She rode the up-tempo beat quite well.

Nguyen Hoang Thuy Vu who is a member of AC&M—a Vietnamese most respected a-cappella group—drops his solo debut, Thang Sau Troi Mua, with a promising potential. The album is dedicated to well-known ballads from Trinh Cong Son to Ngo Thuy Mien to Nguyen Anh 9 to Thanh Tung. Even though Thuy Vu doesn’t revolutionize these tunes, he gives them a masculine vibe with his deep, sentimental vocals. And when he sings low, particularly in Viet Anh’s “Khong Con Mua Thu,” his voice has bass.

Trinh Cong Son’s “Dem Thay Ta La Thac Do,” “Tuoi Da Buon,” “Mua Hong,” and “Diem Xua” have been covered who knows how many times, but never with the tenderness and profoundness Thuy Vu brings to them. He phrases Trinh’s lyrics like a real gentleman who pours out his emotion—calm but with strength. His delivery is at best when he is at ease because that’s when he’s capable of transforming the basest metal with his timbre. And we could experience it in Thanh Tung’s “Giot Nang Ben Them” and Ngo Thuy Mien’s “Niem Khuc Cuoi,” in which he sounds like a romantic guy who I would fall in love with if I were gay.

What makes the album works is apparently Thuy Vu’s marvelous voice, but the simple arrangements, especially the minimal piano works, help a great deal at enhancing the listening experience. The only weak production is in the title track, Hoang Thanh Tam’s “Thang Sau Troi Mua.” The rock riffs ruined his mellow flow, and the computerized drumbeat is too obvious. Other than that, the album is tight set song for song. Even though Thuy Vu doesn’t make these aged tunes sound contemporary, what he gives them is a humanness quality straight from his heart and vocal talent.

Started off as a temporary marriage until she becomes a legit citizen, but they developed into a real relationship. That worked out well, except he’s 29 and she’s 43. Still, there’s no crime in that. Like I said, “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number,” but his families disapprove, and they think she cast voodoo on him (still a common practice in Cambodia?). Because of family pressures, he moved out to be with her. As a closed friend, I support his decision. Adviced him to do whatever he feels right and what makes him happy. I am sure the family will come around. These days, people fall in love with their heads first, not too many follow their hearts; therefore, he has my admiration for going with his feelings. Even if the relationship won’t work out later on, at least he will walk away without any regret because he has loved with all of his heart. So keep your head up and do your thang, boy. I am with you. Got nothing but love for ya.

My boy and I go way back to junior high years. Then I got to know his two younger brothers (also in their twenties) as well as the rest of his family. They sort of “adopted” me ever since they moved in a block from my sister’s house. I guess it is because of my dark skin advantage, which I have always been mistaken for a Cambodian, and I spend way too much time at their crib. Even now whenever I come to visit my sister, they always throw a BBQ or something. Can’t get enough of that banging Cambodian steak sauce (po hok) his mom made. One time, his pops, him, his youngest brother (who I hang out with most of the time nowaday), and I went to a buffet. Pops brought along his wife’s savory po hok and we clean the steaks up in the place. Damn those were the days. I still come over the house whenever I go back to Lancaster, but it is just not same without him around. These folks are real special to me, and I am thankful for the love they are giving me—my extended family.

Told you baby, “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.” (Miss you too, Aaliyah!)

And yes, “Boi Co Em, Toi O Lai Day” (Music & lyrics: Nguyen Minh, Singer: Quynh Lan)

An informal interview (part 1, 2 & 3) with Don Ho conducted by Hoang Trong Thuy. Still the down-to-earth guy. Good luck with the new album and the new production.

My favorite tune and video “Trai Tim Mua Dong.” It brings back the good old days.

Being one of Thuy Nga’s hottest babes on stage for four years, Nhu Loan finally gets a shot at recording her debut Tinh Lang Cam. As much as Thuy Nga folks hate to invest their capital into her singing (they rather spend on her body), they have to bite the bullet, and get it over with. They feel obligated to throw her a bone for baring her skin all these years, even though they know damn well that she is no singer. She has a weak, baby voice with not just limited but no range at all. She delivers every song with the same monotone. I hope that the up-tempo tracks, including “Mua He Ky Niem,” “Dem Tu Tinh,” and “Yeu Anh Diu Dang,” would at least have decent beats for her to ride with. Unfortunately, even the productions are pretty mechanical, which doesn’t help her much at all. At for slow ballads, I feel no emotion going into the songs. In the opener “Nguoi Dien Biet Yeu,” all I hear is her breathy vocals with straight soulless flow. For art’s sake, do something “crazy” to express how a lunatic falls in love. But don’t worry baby, I still got mad love for your glowing, glistering stage presence. So please keep on shaking what your mama gave you, as well as what you gave yourself.

I wish “Em La Cua Anh” forever, baby! (The arrangement is pretty bad, but I like Thi Hanh’s soft and shy vocals. Poem by Thi Hanh and music by Mai Duc Vinh.)

“Uoc Gi,” you’re here by my side! (From My Tam’s liveshow, Ngay Ay & Bay Gio.)