Vietnamese Boy Band Uprize Wants to Take Over the World: ‘We Won’t Set Limits for Ourselves’

When you ask Uprize what defines their sound, the seven-member Vietnamese group doesn't point to a catchy hook or a particular genre. Instead, they point to one another. "We won't set limits for ourselves," says member Leon, and that refusal to be pigeonholed emerges as the closest thing the nation's newest idol act has to a guiding philosophy.

Uprize didn't begin as a conventional band. The septet was assembled from the finalists of "Show It All," a televised talent competition on national broadcaster VTV3 that drew massive ratings across Vietnam. Now, they stand as the country's first idol group built explicitly on the K-pop blueprint, supported by a joint venture between management firm SYE, YeaH1 Group, and Sony Music. Their debut album, "Thăng," arrived in June and quickly climbed to the top of the iTunes Vietnam chart while also trending on YouTube Music.

The album, according to the group, emerged from a deeply collaborative process. Members Leon, Lavm, Dylan, PN, Wônbi, BeX, and O.D worked without fixed roles, with each contributing to the foundation of every track. "We don't divide roles rigidly," Lavm explains. "All members sit down together, and each has a role in building the foundation for the song." The creative team behind the project has described the title track as a composition built from seven distinct musical "puzzle pieces," a direct reflection of that collective ethos.

The group has been candid about borrowing from Korean expertise—they've trained with specialists who have worked with K-pop idols—yet they insist their identity remains firmly their own. "What we bring from ourselves is our musical identity, our style, Vietnamese culture, as well as the colors of the seven of us," Lavm says. "We don't consider ourselves a copy. We see ourselves as a strong biological weapon, invested with power from both Korea and Vietnam." That blend of global format and local flavor extends to language choices. Despite an industry increasingly dominated by English-language crossover hits, Uprize intends to keep performing primarily in Vietnamese. "English isn't the only medium for us to take our music further," Dylan notes. "Audiences all over the world listen to Korean, Japanese, Spanish and Brazilian music without understanding the language, because they can feel the energy and the emotion. Above all, we are proud to be Vietnamese, and we want the Vietnamese language to accompany us throughout this journey."

The partnership with Sony Music has played a pivotal role in Uprize's rollout, though Dylan says it has refined rather than redirected their ambitions. "Having the investment and companionship of Sony Music is something we're very grateful for," he says. "Our dream hasn't changed, but with that support, it has become more realistic and much clearer." Live performance sits at the heart of the group's identity, with stage appearances at events like Coca-Cola Fest and a marathon 10-hour Y Concert shaping their reputation. PN explains that their shows evolve directly from studio sessions rather than being choreographed in isolation. "The sound really moves us, and it inspires how we look at the stage," he says. "We always want to move with the sound. It's like a moment when we're happy, and we live with the music, and we just have fun with each other."

Beyond entertainment, Uprize hopes to speak to the experiences of young people navigating pressure and change. Their fanbase, known as Rizer, has already become a source of validation—the band sold out its pre-order run before the album even officially dropped. "That's one of the milestones we're very proud of, and something that also created curiosity among fans overseas," BeX says. Wônbi views the scrutiny that comes with being among Vietnam's first idol-model boy bands as motivation rather than a weight. "We won't dodge the pressure—we're proactive and we're ready to embrace it," he says. "The bigger the pressure, the higher Uprize's determination will be. We're here to face it, to overcome it and to prove ourselves through our music."

For those encountering V-pop for the first time, the group points to "Thăng" itself—its music video, shot over two days, portrays each member with a distinct superpower, a visual metaphor for the "seven puzzle pieces" concept. "We wanted to show how much we've progressed since the show, and the song captures our musical mindset and personality as a group," O.D says. Looking forward, Uprize's ambitions stretch well beyond Vietnam's borders. YeaH1 Group is organizing a world tour later this year, including a U.S. stop under the banner "V-Beyond," which the band sees as a foundational step toward the global stage. "We are so excited, and in the coming time Uprize will have a concert, and we promise that we will release the second album as soon as possible," PN says. "In the U.S., it's something very new for us. Through the 'V-Beyond' concert, we want to gain a deeper understanding of the audience and the market, and to experience something new."