Osad "The Underworld": Dropped out of school as a rapper, self-proclaimed underground "stepchild"

"Saint of all kinds" is the nickname by which music fans refer to Osad. From a guy who is not professional in Rap videos, but surprised with many songs storming the music charts.

Osad's real name is Mai Quang Nam, born in 1997. Speaking about his stage name, Osad said he was inspired by a black guy's name and didn't have a deep meaning.

He was considered a talented young man when he studied at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. Having had a passion for music since childhood, Osad's dreams had to be put aside for his family. In addition to studying at school, he taught himself to sing, practicing writing some songs. He has many times posted songs he wrote on Facebook but did not get noticed. Even so, he did not give up his passion.

On April 10, 2018, the song "The Underworld" was born, marking a great development of Osad. The song soon after was loved by many young people. After only 2 weeks of posting, the number of views of the song has reached 17 million views and 121,000 likes on Youtube.

The song beat all the emerging songs at that time: "Girl 1m52, Watching the tears fall, Pure sound,..." It was the first success in his life that brought the Osad name to the market. The song has a very catchy melody, the lyrics in the song are very impressive and "listening" extremely strong.

Speaking to everyone, Osad said: "I wrote this when I was feeling a friend last year. I didn't dare say it, so I wrote rap. I told her my impressions of her. She talked to me very well, but still didn't like me. I wrote for about 30 minutes, then edited and added details. I didn't think the song got that much attention."

With a fun, cute melody, attracting listeners and especially the verses are a heavenly hearing that helps guys take advantage of the resources in the lyrics. These lyrics marked and created quite an effect, conveyed widely in. Not only that, the song was also covered by many artists and students.

After the hugely successful song "The Underworld", Osad took his career seriously. The guy participated in many hit TV shows and gamesshows. The next songs he brought also had a playful sound. Many viewers also gave him the nickname "hearing spreader" singer. Taking advantage of his own heat, he in turn released the songs "Peanuts", "I Can", "The Day for the Month of Remembrance" ...

To pursue his dream of making music, in 2018, Osad decided to stop his studies and move from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to live and work. The rapper shared, "At that time, I thought if I was determined to pursue music, I should be serious and 100% focused on it. I and my parents decided to "drop out of school" and go to Ho Chi Minh City to live, my parents were very shocked."

"Around that time, my parents were worried about whether I would be able to live with my decision. It also took me a while to prove that I made money doing this and that it's something I love to do. After that, my parents agreed and let me move to Ho Chi Minh City...," Osad added.

When he first arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Osad said he did not put too much emphasis on accommodation, just comfortable and private. After more than 2 years of renting a house, feeling that he wanted a place that really belonged to him, and his mother also influenced with the thought of "settling down", Osad decided to buy a house with installments.

Although OSAD's music is very popular with young people, in the eyes of longtime underground viewers and the rapper community, the male artist is not popular. OSAD once called himself a "stepchild of the underground world" because his lyrics, rapping techniques and performance style were "young", not deep and somewhat different.

Many viewers commented that the rapper is only good at picking up sentences online and then piecing together a rap song, so it is not worthy of what fans are for. Recognizing his weaknesses, OSAD said he still tries to improve his skills day by day.

OSAD has been outspoken about the controversy:

"My style is not like the hip hop brothers in teams, coming up from the streets. My life from small to big doesn't have that. I'm a music lover and most of the time always make music by myself.

It's normal to look like I'm not hip hop, it's very dusty, because it's true to who I am from the inside, I'm not too prickly. Calling me a music person, I feel fine, because besides rapping, I do a lot of other things."

For most of 2023, OSAD is almost "missing" in the music market, with the artist saying he spends his time learning and honing his ability to compose and produce music.

"The growth of my music lies in the fact that I am making music more and more like my being. In the past, I spent time trying to figure out how to express myself in music, because I was young and inexperienced, so I didn't come to work," the rapper shared.

Seeing the vibrant rap market with many quality albums and EPs, OSAD thinks that everyone around him is very good and productive, which helps him try harder. Currently, the rapper is focusing on preparing for his debut album, which is expected to be released in 2025.