The Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee's Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Board has recommended that artists with songs or conduct contrary to cultural standards should not be invited to official city events. Singers like Jack, HIEUTHUHAI, and Pháo were specifically named.

In an official dispatch sent to the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City, the City Music Association, members of the City’s Council for Literary and Artistic Theory and Criticism, and local media agencies, the Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Board of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee called for better direction and oversight of music activities that show signs of cultural deviance.

Jack, HIEUTHUHAI, and Pháo named for offensive or vulgar songs

According to the Party Committee, the local music scene has recently seen an alarming trend.

Some young artists are composing, performing, and widely sharing songs on social media with vulgar, crude, and careless lyrics. These songs use impure Vietnamese, often turning music into a platform for venting, attacking, or ridiculing others. The content frequently promotes arrogance, lack of civility, professional misconduct, and disrespect for audiences, while glorifying drug use, reckless lifestyles, gangster behavior, and social vices.

A notable example is singer Jack (real name Trinh Tran Phuong Tuan), whose song performed on October 16 in Hanoi featured lyrics deemed culturally inappropriate, vulgar, and arrogant.

Other artists and songs highlighted include Pháo with Su nghiep chuong, rapper Gducky with Mien mong mi, CLME (Hoang Ton x Andree x Tinle), DSK with Chua bao gio, Andree with Keo, Bray x Dat G with Cao oc 20, HIEUTHUHAI with Trinh, and Andree x Binh Gold with Em iu.

These musical expressions are viewed as eroding traditional values, aesthetic standards, and cultural behavior norms. They negatively influence the thinking and actions of young audiences and distort the public's perception of artists.

The current situation underscores the need for coordinated efforts among government agencies, professional organizations, the city’s theory and criticism council, media outlets, and artists to timely direct, adjust, and build a healthy and humane cultural and artistic environment aligned with national values.

Call for stricter monitoring and penalties

The Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Board urged the Department of Culture and Sports to intensify oversight of performances, songwriting, and music product releases, especially within the rap genre and content disseminated on social media. Music events at venues such as tea lounges, privately organized shows, and public space events must comply with legal regulations and cultural standards.

The department should also work with the city’s Inspectorate to investigate and penalize cultural violations in performances and product promotion.

It was proposed that the Department lead and collaborate with the City Music Association and the city's Radio and Television Station to develop educational programming that guides artistic creation and fosters artists’ social awareness and responsibility.

In addition, the Department is advised to provide timely counsel to the People’s Committee on strict regulatory responses to offensive or deviant musical works that harm cultural life. It should also commend artists whose creative contributions promote positive values, cultural identity, and social engagement.

A previously controversial 18+ concert featuring Binz and Soobin was fined USD 4,500 by authorities for inappropriate content.

Officials also suggested carefully considering whether to invite artists whose creations, speech, performances, or personal conduct are inconsistent with traditional values or promote unhealthy lifestyles and social vices to participate in public events, festivals, or official city programs.

The HCM City Music Association is encouraged to enhance moral education for artists, particularly emerging singers and songwriters, ensuring ethical standards in composition and performance.

The association should also host forums and discussions on cultural behavior in music to promote artistic integrity, professional ethics, and the values of truth, goodness, and beauty in Vietnam’s music scene.

Efforts to recruit and guide freelance artists active in the city should also be strengthened to help them align their creative practices with cultural expectations.

The city’s Council for Literary and Artistic Theory and Criticism should play a greater role in providing guidance, professional assessment, and critical discourse. This includes producing scholarly writings and hosting discussions on current music language, lyrics, and conduct to provide constructive critique and artistic orientation for both creators and the public.

Media outlets are likewise encouraged to publish more features and columns that foster aesthetic values, raise cultural awareness, and promote a generation of artists with political integrity, professional ethics, and public responsibility.

News agencies should also swiftly refute and critique music products or behaviors that contradict cultural norms and ethics, in order to cultivate a healthy artistic environment and provide guidance to especially younger audiences.

Tuan Chieu