Jack (J97)

Jack was born on April 12, 1997, in Ngai Dang Commune, Mo Cay Nam District, Ben Tre Province. He graduated from the professional college in vocal major at the Department of Culture, Art and Tourism – Ben Tre College, and was a music teacher at Thanh Thoi A1 Primary School, Thanh Thoi A Commune, Mo Cay Nam. In an interview with VnExpress, he said:

"Before, I did not think I would enter the entertainment business because I lived a closed life. I made my first salary in my hometown by working as a music teacher in an elementary school, with a salary of 5,000,000₫-6,000,000₫ per month."[2]

Jack used to be a member in the group G5R, an underground Vietnamese music group. He debuted in several music videos with this group, such as "Giai Dieu Mien Tay" (plagiarism from "Vagabond" by NELI ft. TREI SPE and "Me Oi 2"). He became popular within the underground Vietnamese music industry when he released the music video "Ve Ben Anh", however it was not as popular in V-pop.[3] On February 19, 2019, Jack released the song "Hong Nhan" with a music video on YouTube. In its first week of release, the song debuted at No. 2 on Zing MP3, eventually reaching No. 1. The song has more than 13 million listening frequencies on Zing MP3 and 10 million video views on YouTube after a week of release. Due to the popularity of this song, Jack was compared to Phan Manh Quynh and Den Vau.[4] From there, he emerged as a music phenomenon.[5]

After the hit song "Hong Nhan", he departed from the group G5R. After that, he collaborated with music producer K-ICM and released the song "Bac Phan" in April 2019. Together, they continued the story series of "Hong Nhan" and it was widely received.[6] Later, Jack collaborated with producer Liam and performed the song "Sao Em Vo Tinh". These ballad-oriented music products were well- received by the public.[7] Continuing his collaboration with K-ICM, Jack released the song "Song Gio" and promoted it as the third part of "Hong Nhan". After its release, the song gained massive viewership on YouTube.[8] The songs "Em Gi Oi", "Viet Nam Toi", and "Hoa Vo Sac" continued to be released by him and K-ICM after that time. Since then, his name has occupied a high position in the V-pop music scene.[9] However, by the end of 2019, there was a rumor circulating on the Internet that "Jack and K-ICM was at odds" or "K-ICM exploited Jack's labor". In response, he posted on his Facebook account that the release of "Hoa Vo Sac" was only a demo version. The song has just been recorded as a test without singing in parts. However, K-ICM voluntarily posted this song on his YouTube channel. After an interview with the content affirming "not exploiting Jack", K-ICM received many negative reactions from the audience.[10]

After his controversy with K-ICM, he is said to have collaborated with ViruSs to release a demo of the song "Dom Dom" on December 29, 2019. The demo reached No.1 of YouTube trending Vietnam within 4 hours.[11]

On February 17, 2020, Jack officially announced his own YouTube channel called J97. After joining Nomad MGMT Vietnam, he released the song "La 1 Thang Con Trai" on March 10, 2020, on J97's YouTube channel in association with music producer Hoaprox. The song received positive reactions from artists and fans, with some saying that this is just the beginning of Jack's challenge with various types of music.[12]

In addition, he received the YouTube Silver Play Button within a few hours after he created his channel. Soon after, J97 quickly surpassed Ba Tan Vlog, becoming the fastest channel to receive the YouTube Gold Play Button in Vietnam within seven days of creating a channel.[13]

In the evening of September 22, 2020, Jack officially released the music video of "Hoa Hai Duong" produced by the DTAP producer team. The song is mixed and mastered by Jack. As soon as "Hoa Hai Duong" was released on YouTube, it reached 1 million views in 20 minutes. After 24 hours, "Hoa Hai Duong" became trending on YouTube in seven countries, including Vietnam, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, Germany, the US and South Korea, and it also led the sale of music on iTunes Vietnam.[14]

In the afternoon of October 6, 2020, MTV Vietnam officially announced that the artist would represent Vietnam to compete at MTV EMA & ATA 2020. Jack overcame many singers as Duc Phuc, Hoang Thuy Linh, Han Sara, Binz, and more to become the winner of the domestic voting.[15] On the morning of November 9, 2020, after nearly a month of opening the voting gate, MTV EMA called Jack as the winner of the Best Southeast Asian Artist category by livestream, surpassing a series of names from Southeast Asia. Thus, Jack is the fourth artist of Vietnam after My Tam (2013), Son Tung M-TP (2015) and Dong Nhi (2016) to win this award.[16][17]

On December 26, 2020, Jack officially released the song Dom Dom. This is considered one of the most anticipated songs not only for Jack's fans but also for those who regularly follow Vpop. Dom Dom's music video has reached 295,556 premiere views on Youtube. The song Dom Dom quickly rose to No. 1 of Zing MP3 Chart with a time of only 64 minutes, setting a Vpop record in 2020. After two days of launch, Dom Dom has reaped great successes: reaching number 1 of the top trending of YouTube Vietnam and entering the top trending in many other countries such as: top 9 in Taiwan, top 28 in Germany, top 24 of Youtube trending worldwide and top 2 iTunes Vietnam.[18]

At the Zing Music Awards 2020 held on January 7, 2021, Jack won 2 awards: Most Popular Male Artist and Most Favorite Dance / Electronic Song with the song Hoa Hai Duong.[19]

On the Evening of January 14, 2021, at the 26th Golden Apricot Blossom Awards (Mai Vang) Ceremony, Jack is named as the winner of the Most Favorite Light Music Male Singer Act. This is the first Golden Apricot Blossom Award in his singing career.[20]

On the evening of January 16, 2021, the Asian TV Awards 2020 Organizing Committee named Jack's Hoa Hai Duong as the winning MV in the category of Best Music Video. This is the second international award after the MTV EMA that Jack achieved in his singing career.[21]

Jack's most prominent music products include "Hong Nhan", "Bac Phan" and "Song Gio" which is a blend of pop, European electronic music, and southwest Vietnamese folk music. In an interview with Zing News, Jack asserted that his songs are "a sadness of nostalgia combined by European, American and Vietnamese music". Regarding his vocal, he is judged by the public to have a unique vocal. Jack himself once admitted that he "can sing songs that he has in tune with in terms of genre, lyrics, melody or story."[22] Writing on VietNamNet, the journalist Le Thi My Niem evaluated about Jack:

"There are 3 phases in his less than 2 years career: sticking with G5R; sticking with K-ICM; and the phase at the current company. Every phase, Jack may be slightly different but never lost the "Jack" quality – which encapsulates two qualities: young and popular. Until Hoa Hai Duong, in terms of music, Jack is still Jack. He is quiet, not good at speaking but in music, the audience often feels that this is "his heaven" where he unleashes his soul and sentences. Keeping his identity is a good thing. He still lives discreet, unbearable, uncolorful. In turn, in music, Jack is gradually gaining more love from fans. "[23]

.

ZingNews journalist Quang Duc evaluated about Jack's music in 2020:

"If" La 1 Thang Con Trai "in March is an electronic song mixed with disco and rap material, "Hoa Hai Duong" then is the combination of folk with harmonious style with future bass sound. This time, Jack brought a pop ballad song "Dom Dom" through the hands of two producers ViruSs and 1HIT. "[24]

The name Jack was inspired by Jackie Chan, whom his father idolizes. The artist name Jack has been associated with him since the beginning of his artistic career. Recently, Jack is referred to as J97 by a combination of the character J in his stage name and the year of his birth.

On September 23, 2020, Vivo Vietnam officially announced Jack to become the brand ambassador for ViVo V20 product. Jack said:

"To talk about the reason for this collaboration, that is the similarity between Jack and Vivo Vietnam are derived from the genuine feelings, in order to bring the best things to everyone. Jack wants to send in sincerity through the music products. And so is Vivo, each its product is created by the understanding of users, to bring them the best experiences".[25]

On October 5, 2020, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile Vietnam (PUBG Mobile Vietnam) officially confirmed Jack will be the brand ambassador in Vietnam. Jack will shake hands with PUBGM to do meaningful things for the Dom Dom fan community in particular and the society in general, starting with a fundraising project for the Vietnam Children's Fund called "Running Bo To Morning". This is also an affirmation of Jack not to be only as a talented singer, but also a person who has a positive influence on society.[26]

On the morning of March 28, Jack's mother presented at the Cultural Center of Ben Tre to donate a total amount of 100,000,000₫ for the COVID-19 prevention support. In addition, Jack also transferred 50,000,000₫ to the fans' fund to support the fight against drought at his hometown. Then, on August 13, 2020, he donated for Da Nang 200,000 medical masks to support the COVID-19 prevention.