Rising R&B Artist Thuy Sings To Heal Her Past - KQED

Thuy is rewriting the rules of her universe. Hailing from the East Bay town of Newark, the up-and-coming singer is carving out new paths, bringing light and vulnerability into her galaxy of sound. It’s music she’s spent her whole life wanting to make. Now, she’s found her voice, and is done waiting for what anyone else has to say.

Throughout her work, 29-year-old Thuy turned the private process of reckoning with her past and present selves and translated it into TikTok-trending singles. Tracks like “In My Bag” and “Chances” show Thuy as a purveyor of aughties R&B as she croons luscious melodies, layered with the lived-in experiences of coming into her own as both a musician and a woman. She’s proud, effervescent and every bit invigorating on “In My Bag”: “Leveled up, baby, I’m outta your reach / Passed on me but I’m taking all the shots now,” she sings about her self-confident agenda over a pulsing synth.

The personal truths of Thuy’s life embed themselves throughout her melodies and come to life with her silken voice. This vulnerability is what earned her over 569,000 listeners on Spotify and 209,000 TikTok followers. With her dedicated fanbase and growing popularity, it’s hard to believe only a few years ago she was working as an optometric technician, wrestling with the weight of keeping her dreams afloat.

Throughout her life, there has always been the push and pull between Thuy, the UC Santa Barbara graduate bound by Vietnamese American traditions, and Thuy, the singer. Nevertheless, she still remembers herself as a kid, completely alone in her parents’ garage, belting out Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” and recreating Christina Aguilera’s runs for fun. An essential part of her music-making journey comes from being surrounded by Vietnamese culture and karaoke—a mainstay pastime for Vietnamese families. Some of Thuy’s earliest memories of music were being jolted awake to the electric charisma of her parents’ singing.