INTERVIEW with Tu Pham || Hip Hop Artist & Doctor

Written By Suzanne Dang

Above: Photo supplied by Tu P

SD: Hi Tu, for my readers who don’t know you yet, can you please introduce yourself?

TP: Hi everyone, I'm Tu Pham. I am a hip hop artist and doctor from Brisbane

SD: How and why did you start rapping?

TP: I started when I was 14. Hip hop and RnB were popular among Vietnamese youth in Australia who felt difficulty connecting with mainstream rock music at the time 

SD: Do you have a project on the way? If so, what can people expect?

TP: I am working on some hip-hop songs and music videos with Brazilian Zouk (a partner dance).

SD: If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

TP: 2Pac, he was the most effective artist of his generation at enacting social change.

Above: Photo supplied by Tu P

SD: What’s the concept behind the music video for “Save Our Seas”?

TP: It was a collaboration among Malaysian, Filipino and Vietnamese artists, standing up for the underdogs in the West Phillipine Sea.

SD: What is “Tour de Jacaranda”? How did it come about?

TP: Tour de Jacaranda started when I got a small group of friends together to tour the best Jacaranda spots in Brisbane during the Spring. A lot of people seem to be interested in the same thing and it grew from there. 

SD: How do you push through periods of creative block?

TP: Get active and walk, get out of the house. Listen to other artists and academics for inspiration. Have the means to write down or record your ideas straight away when they happen (because they can occur at random, when you least expect it).

SD: Give 3 quick tips for a rapper looking to start out?

TP: Find a way to stay on beat first, then you can try interesting cadences later (my life changed when I learnt how to hit the snare drum).

Try not to only write about yourself if your life is too insular, but also, try not to only write about stuff you know nothing about. If you have nothing to go on, go seek out some new experiences first.

Try not to lie in your music, as you will have to undo the deception at some point

Above: Photo supplied by Tu P

Suzanne Dang
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