5 V-pop hits for New Year's Eve

By Quynh Trang   December 30, 2016 | 11:00 am PT
Worried you won't understand a single lyric? Don't. You're not missing much. 

Toc Tien | The Gong Dance 

Toc Tien's Gong Dance shook bars, clubs and street corners last year with its heart-pumping electronic riffs.

The whole country quickly mastered the namesake dance in 2016—a medley of cabbage-patching and crab-walking.

If you haven't figured it out yet, put it at the top of your resolution list.

365Daband | Bong Bong Bang Bang

A film adaptation of Vietnam's gruesome Cinderella fairytale, Tam Cam, saw middling success at the box office this August.

Though critics rolled their eyes at the film's lackluster visual effects and storytelling, the country couldn't get enough of Bong Bong Bang Bang.

The song is essentially an electronic remix of a century-old diddy that Vietnamese Cinderella uses to summon her pet fish -- until her evil step-sister kills it, that is.

Sing Bong Bong Bang Bang this New Year's Eve and hope that a white-bearded fairy godfather appears in your backyard to help you exact revenge on all those who wronged you. 

Hoang Thuy Linh | Banh Troi Nuoc (The Floating Cake)

Electrified folk instruments topped the charts for the third time this year when singer Hoang Thuy Linh wandered into Long An's mystical forests to Ninh Binh's lime peaks, dressed in a series of gigantic gowns.

Her song, Banh troi nuoc, refers to a four-line poem about the feudal fate of Vietnamese women. 

While a somewhat heavy subject for a party tune, the floaty, rising arcs of this ambient ballad make it a pretty sweet soundtrack for drinking beer.

Pham Hong Phuoc | Vietnam - Go, Kiss and Love

Vietnam's rising pop star, Pham Hong Phuoc, loved every moment of his cross-country travels. 

His song about it begs the question where have you gone, who have you kissed and what have you loved this year?

Son Tung M-TP | We don't belong together

If you went to a bar this year, then chances are you heard the controversial "repackaging" of a Charlie Puth tune by Vietnamese pop prince M-TP.

The weird science video for We don't belong together (in which a bleached M-TP appears to be assembling a girlfriend out of mannequin parts) netted nearly 90 million views on YouTube and became the most-viewed V-pop video of 2016. 

Be warned: you might find yourself humming Tung's tune into 2017.  

 
 
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