Den Vau's Album: What would it be like to rap with symphonic music?

Rapper Den Vau. Photo: NSCC.

Den (aka Den Vau) has officially released his first full album called "dongvui harmony". Instead of releasing an MV to promote the album, Den premiered a 40-minute live performance video on YouTube with all 8 songs. The album "dongvui harmony" was arranged and arranged by musician Tran Manh Hung, music consultant Long Halo, conductor Dong Quang Vinh and a symphony orchestra of more than 100 members. The visual part of the live performance video "dongvui harmony" in the magnificent theater setting was done by director Thanh Dong.

The album "dongvui harmony" collects famous rap songs in Den's career over the past 10 years:I don't need much but you, Who wants to hear, Hide and seek, One million likes, Rain on the corrugated iron roofs, Dream, This song is so chill, Bring money home to mom. The album marks the 3rd anniversary of the live show "Show của Đen" in Ho Chi Minh City in 2019. In this project, producer Long Halo plays the role of music consultant, previously, he was also the general director of "Show của Đen".

More than a year ago, Den shared his ideas and wishes for the album "dongvui harmony" with music consultant Long Halo. After a long time of nurturing and implementing, "dongvui harmony" took shape, bringing many emotions to the audience through 8 familiar rap songs that were renewed thanks to the combination with symphonic music.

According to Den, "dong vui" in the title "dongvui harmony" means the joy of experiencing new things from everyone, from the male rapper, orchestra, conductor, backstage brothers, cameramen... and "harmony" means the harmony, the intersection between rap and symphony.

Den's rap style and attitude also changed somewhat when combined with the symphony orchestra in the album "dongvui harmony": "If it's a normal beat, I can rap harder and stronger, but when rapping with the symphony, I'm deeper and slower. When standing in the orchestra, rapping, I'm just an element in a whole group. Everything in each song is carefully selected by Mr. Hung and rap is also included in it, not a prominent element. All of it makes up a complete performance for the audience to hear the rap lyrics, the sounds of the instruments, the harmony...".

Den Vau combined with the symphony orchestra. Photo: NSCC

The live performance video "dongvui harmony" records the scene of Den performing rap with a symphony orchestra, under the command of conductor Dong Quang Vinh. Without a script, specific story, or transforming into any character, the visual part of the album focuses entirely on the music, the interaction between Den and the symphony orchestra.

In contrast to the usual image of symphony orchestras with elaborate costumes, the artists participating in "dongvui harmony" wear black and white hoodies. This is also a detail that shows the interesting intersection between Rap, Hip-hop - a free, liberal music genre and symphony - classical music, highly specialized.

Den revealed that the crew continuously filmed 8 songs in one day, the entire audio of "dongvui harmony" was recorded live.

Talking about the meaning of his debut album “dongvui harmony”, Den shared: “I learned a lot when doing this project, listening to people play music and talking to each other. I understand how to work together with many people. The difficulties are also the experiences I have, so that in the future everyone can work together most comfortably, ensuring the most health and time. Learning is the most important, then playing music. If I don't jump into it, how will I know everything is so interesting!”.