James Tang

Here are the articled funky beats that hip-hop DJs can’t stop diggin’ in the crates for – including rare grooves aplenty. What’s more, there’s soul, jazz and a message or two to go with those killer breaks. As sampled by everyone in rap - including you?

A whole sociological study could probably be based around Saigon Rock & Soul, a double-album compilation of killer Vietnamese pop/rock tracks from the late ‘60s to mid-‘70s, but that will be left to more academically minded types in order to focus on the music at hand. The tunes included here were surely the product of Western music's influence, as American soldiers brought the sounds of U.S. rock, pop, and soul along with them over the course of the Vietnam War. By the late ‘60s, a whole subgenre of than nac ("modern music") had emerged, as hordes of young Vietnamese musicians absorbed and emulated the music that arrived from overseas. Besides local clubs, many of the artists featured here performed – and often recorded – at U.S. army bases, where the soldiers made up a major portion of their fan base.