In November 2022, Kenh14, one of Vietnam's biggest youth news sites, launched Gen Z Okela, a video podcast about standout members of Gen Z across different fields. Season 1 was planned as seven episodes of 45–50 minutes, airing Sundays at 8pm on the Kenh14 app. The host was Lilthu.
Kenh14 summed up the first season's guests in one line: "sometimes failing, sometimes not quite okay, but never stopping trying" (translated from Vietnamese). The first three episodes, with a stylist, a singer and an athlete, show three different ways of living up to it.
Episode 1 — Stylist Tigrebia: "Youth is for working"
Tigrebia, or Tigre, was born in 1999 and lived and studied abroad before returning to Vietnam to build his career. He styled judge Suboi on Season 1 of Rap Việt, Vietnam's hit rap competition, and worked on singer Hồ Ngọc Hà's music video Cô Đơn Trên Sofa. Behind the "sassy" persona, he works with careful planning and often weaves Vietnamese cultural elements into his designs.
On art, his view is concise: "Art succeeds when it makes people think." On work, he pushes back against the image of young people blindly chasing passion: "Whatever you do, you need a plan, you need to be smart, not just charge in headfirst." The question he puts to young people is whether a passion can pay the bills. And for him, "youth is for working"; rest can come later.
The conversation also touched on a controversy over a backless top. Tigre compared it to the traditional Vietnamese yếm. Host Lilthu gave her view: "It's my body, I'll wear what I like."
Episode 2 — Grey D: escaping the "cage" of perfectionism
Grey D (Đoàn Thế Lân) is a former member of the group MONSTAR, now a solo artist with the label St.319. His stage name comes from the colour grey, a calm, neutral feeling.
The episode centres on perfectionism. "When I was too much of a perfectionist, at some point I realised I was locking myself in a 'cage'," Grey D said. His turning point was two years of military service, the period he says changed him the most.
From the pressure of going solo, he found a new purpose: "Now I want to make music that can heal others." On the message of the song that brought him to audiences, he said: "The best part is that after so much hurt, we're still sitting here, still hoping."
Episode 3 — Võ Kim Bản: "Lose today, win tomorrow"
Võ Kim Bản was born in 2000 in Sóc Trăng, in the Mekong Delta. He started basketball at 13, when a provincial coach picked him for being the tallest in his class, and later joined the Saigon Heat training centre. By the time of filming, he had played five VBA seasons and two SEA Games.
This is the story of a boy who left home at 13. His wish is simple: "I want to spend more time with my grandmother," the woman in her nineties who raised him in the countryside. A packed training and competition schedule has kept that wish on hold.
He was also candid about his temper and the times he has had to apologise to teammates, and about learning English from scratch after moving to Ho Chi Minh City. After losing the SEA Games 31 final to Thailand, his takeaway was: "This defeat reminded me never to stop trying." Host Lilthu answered in her own spirit: "The stronger the opponent, the harder I fight."
What the three stories share
Tigrebia faced the question of whether passion can pay the bills, and chose to work with a plan rather than charge in headfirst. Grey D wrestled with perfectionism and the pressure of going solo, then learned to let go to make healing music. Võ Kim Bản left home early, lost a final, and reminds himself that if he loses today, he must try harder tomorrow.
Three different fields, one picture of Gen Z: not the "fragile" generation of the labels, but a generation that knows it will fail and does it anyway. The long-form video podcast gives them time to tell that part of the story, something a 30-second clip cannot do (see 4.2).
Watch the episodes: Gen Z Okela playlist — KENH14 SPECIAL · Tigrebia episode · Grey D episode · Võ Kim Bản episode
Sources (Vietnamese): Kenh14 — Behind Gen Z Okela (19/11/2022) · Kenh14 — Stylist Tigrebia (23/11/2022) · Kenh14 — Grey D (02/12/2022) · Kenh14 — Võ Kim Bản (05/12/2022)
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