Rapper Binz Da Poet was named ‘Best Asian Artist Vietnam’, while singer Amee was honoured as the ‘Best New Asian Artist Vietnam’ and Quang Dang won ‘Best Choreographer of the Year’ at the event, which was livestreamed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MAMA is a prestigious annual music award initiated and maintained by ROK's Mnet Media since 1999. Starting in 2009, the award was extended to ten artists from Asian countries and territories who gained many achievements in the year. Vietnam was selected to hold the award ceremony together with three other countries in the region in 2017. Previously, Vietnamese singers, including My Tam, Thu Minh, Dong Nhi, Toc Tien, Noo Phuoc Thinh, and Huong Tram, have been awarded in the category of "Best Asian Artist Vietnam".
Binz, real name Le Nguyen Trung Dan, 32, was born in Gia Lai Province before relocating to the US. He has been part of the Vietnamese underground music community since 2007 and started earning popularity in 2017 after returning to Vietnam.
Amee, real name Tran Huyen My, 20, is the youngest Vietnamese artist to be honored at MAMA. Starting her career in 2018 and releasing her debut album "DreAMEE" in June, Amee has received several domestic awards, including Best New Artist of the Year at "Cong Hien 2020" (Dedicated Music Award 2020).
Notably, the ‘Best Choreographer of the Year’ award, which was handed out for the first time in the 21 year history of the MAMA, was given to Quang Dang thanks to his dancing with the LifeDance group in the music video Love Note by Binz ft. Min.
Earlier, in February, the Handwashing song by songwriter Khac Hung and the accompanying dance choreographed by Dang went viral on social media after being featured on HBO's comedic news show Last Week Tonight, during which host John Oliver called it a "genuine club-banger".
UNICEF also shared Dang’s handwashing dance video in a post on March 3, stressing to people that washing their hands with soap and water is one of the first steps in protecting themselves from coronavirus.
Born in 1989, Dang was a member of the Buoc Nhay dance group. In 2012, the dancer was runner up of So You Think You Can Dance. He has worked with many popular singers in their acts and music videos. The LifeDance group that he founded competed in Asia's Got Talent 2019.
