Nguyễn Thanh Tuấn (born November 1, 1990), commonly known by his stage name JustaTee (formerly JayTee), is a Vietnamese singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He is a pioneer in pursuing R&B and has contributed to popularizing this music genre in Vietnam through his compositions. His music is highly regarded for its fresh melodies, simple, relatable lyrics, and influential impact.
JustaTee began his hip hop career under the stage name JayTee in 2004. He was a member of the group Click Click Boom before abandoning rap and focusing on R&B in 2008. In 2010, he collaborated with Lil' Knight (LK) to form the group LadyKillah and released notable songs such as "Người lạ nơi cuối con đường" and "Imma Heartbreaker," along with his debut mini album Just-a-Tee. In 2011, JustaTee was one of the first members to join SpaceSpeakers. He released award-winning songs at the Zing Music Awards, including "Candle in the Wind," “Forever Alone," and "Bâng Khuâng.”
From 2014, JustaTee reduced his musical activities, focusing on the restaurant business and relocating to the South. He later participated in the second season of Harmony of Light with BigDaddy in 2016. By 2017, he returned to the music scene and released hit songs like "I've Already Fallen Deeply for You," “The Crazy One," “Because of Love, I'll Charge Ahead," and "Going Home," earning him numerous nominations and awards at the Zing Music Awards, Làn Sóng Xanh, and Cống Hiến. Since 2020, JustaTee has served as a judge for four seasons of the Cống hiến Rap Việt program. He also took on the role of music director for the reality TV shows Anh trai "say hi" (2024) and Em xinh "say hi" (2025).
Life and career
Background Nguyen Thanh Tuan was born on November 1, 1990, in Hanoi. He comes from a large family with parents who are not involved in the arts, siblings, and relatives. Thanh Tuấn said his parents initially discouraged him from pursuing art because he was so passionate about it in high school, fearing it would affect his studies. Later, when he had a clear direction for his passion, he convinced his parents to trust and support him. While living with his parents in an apartment in Hanoi, Thanh Tuấn used his bedroom as both a recording studio and a workspace. He purchased all the studio equipment by saving up money from his performances. Thanh Tuấn was admitted to the University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. In the first season of Rap Việt, he revealed that he had stopped studying to focus on his passion for music.
2004–2010: Early career, LadyKillah, debut mini album Thanh Tuấn pursued rap music while still in school in 2004, adopting the stage name JayTee, and often chose existing backing tracks from the Internet to perform. In 2005, JayTee became a member of Click Click Boom, Vietnam's first multi-member, multi-genre rap group, which disbanded in 2008 due to members' personal commitments. "Vô vọng" (Hopeless), a collaboration with singer Emily, was the first rap song that brought JayTee closer to his audience, which he later described as "terrible." He abandoned rap after realizing his voice had limitations because it wasn't "aggressive" or ‘edgy’ enough. JayTee grew to love and switched to pursuing R&B, which he considers "a close relative" of rap and "raps very well with R&B."
In 2009, "Tik Tak" was the first R&B song JayTee released. This was the opportunity that led him to meet and collaborate with rapper Lil' Knight (LK). LK was someone he felt was compatible and in sync with throughout the songwriting process. Also in 2009, JayTee released "Luv U Hater" (featuring rappers Andree Right Hand, Lil' BK, and BigDaddy) and pioneered the use of melodic rap to deliver the diss track's chorus. He worked at the M4Me studio alongside rappers Rhymastic and Young Uno. On March 3, 2010, JayTee and LK founded the group LadyKillah under the management of rapper Mr. J (Jan Saker). They also co-founded a major R&B/Hip hop website in Vietnam. The song "Không tin một sớm mai bình yên" (featuring LK) helped bring JayTee to the mainstream audience. From there, he continued to release songs that reached high positions on Vietnamese music charts in 2010, such as "Người lạ nơi cuối con đường" (collaboration with LK) and "Imma Heartbreaker" (collaboration with Emily and LK).
JayTee collaborated with LK and male rapper Eddy Việt to release "K (Part 2)," and teamed up with Andree Right Hand to release "Wrong Bitch." On August 20, 2010, he changed his stage name to JustaTee, a name derived from a song he liked. He said, "Back when I was a rapper, I went by JayTee [...] I decided to change my name to transition into singing R&B, and at the same time, I changed my stage name to mark a new chapter in my career." On the same day, JustaTee released his debut mini album Just-a-Tee, a product of his collaboration with the M4Me music academy, consisting of 5 songs: “Where's Mah Name” (featuring rapper Bueno and singer Mr. A), “Excuse Me” (featuring rapper Cá Chép), “Look at Me” (featuring singers P.A and Eddy Việt), “Imma Heartbreaker,” and “Play Girl” (featuring LK).
2011–2016: SpaceSpeakers, first award, decision to expand south On October 31, 2011, SpaceSpeakers was founded, and JustaTee became the first members of the group. That year, he released songs such as "Hoa sữa" (in collaboration with Mr. A, music producer Touliver, and singer Kimmese), "Xin anh đừng" (in collaboration with Emily and LK) and "Lonely Star" (in collaboration with LK and P.A.). In 2012, JustaTee released "She Neva Knows," "Real Love" (featuring Kimmese), "Vụt tan" (featuring male singer Soobin Hoàng Sơn), and "Người nào đó." He contributed vocals to "Tình cờ" (by Emily featuring LK), "Bật khóc" (by girl group B. Sily) and "Ngọn nến trước gió" (by LK featuring Andree Right Hand and Emily). Among these, "Candle in the Wind" quickly rose to the top of the Zing MP3 music chart and earned him the Rap Song of the Year award at the 2012 Zing Music Awards. In late 2012, he performed at the Underground Revolution hip-hop festival.
In early 2013, "Time Will Tell" by singer-songwriter and record producer Tiên Cookie was released, featuring collaborations with JustaTee and BigDaddy. Later, JustaTee released the song "Forever Alone." As an R&B track about a man embracing the single life, the song quickly went viral and became a hit for JustaTee. "Forever Alone" earned him the Song of the Year and R&B/Soul Song awards at the 2013 Zing Music Awards. In mid-2013, JustaTee began dating Trâm Anh, a popular influencer in Vietnam. He continued to release "Lời nói dối chân thật" (collaboration with Kimmese), "Cuộc gọi cuối (Last Call)" and "Crying Over You" (collaboration with rapper Binz).
JustaTee became less active in the Vietnamese music scene between 2014 and 2017. In 2014, he decided to leave his base in Hanoi and move south to Ho Chi Minh City, with the aim of "building a solid foundation." He revealed that he ran restaurants and cafes during that period to cover his expenses. Not long after, he returned to Hanoi because he found life in Ho Chi Minh City very difficult. That year, JustaTee released the single "Bâng khuâng," a song that helped him win the Favorite R&B/Soul Song award at the 2014 Zing Music Awards, and collaborated with singer Trịnh Thăng Bình in the concert program "Tôi tỏa sáng" on VTV9. In 2015, JustaTee contributed vocals to "Shine Your Light" by singer Min from St.319 Entertainment, collaborated with BigDaddy on ‘2AM’, and with singer Toc Tien and BigDaddy on "The Beat of Celebration".
In 2016, JustaTee continued his southern tour to join BigDaddy in the second season of the program Harmony of Light as contestants. By the fifth live show in February 2016, they performed a completely new song, "Coming Home for Tet," on the program and later released the song on online platforms. However, at the seventh live show, the duo JustaTee and BigDaddy became the team eliminated from the program. JustaTee considered this his second failed attempt at moving south, citing the reason "couldn't sustain it"—that without financial resources, he couldn't pursue music. "Dù anh có đứng lại" by JustaTee and BigDaddy, a song from Harmony of Light, was released on digital music platforms. By the end of 2016, he released "The Last Rain" in collaboration with Binz. After a year and a half of running his restaurant, he earned 200 million VND and decided to make his third attempt at moving south.
2017–2020: Successful singles and Vietnamese rap
On October 28, 2017, JustaTee featured on "Mặt trời của em" by singer Phương Ly. Over two weeks later, he released "Đã lỡ yêu em nhiều." Both songs quickly went viral, were enthusiastically received, and became hits for JustaTee. In 2018, he featured in "Guess What I'm Thinking" by rapper Đen, in collaboration with Biên. JustaTee collaborated with Phương Ly to release "The Crazy One." A pop song blending R&B and a touch of hip-hop, co-written by him and male streamer-turned-musician ViruSs, "Thằng điên" brought a fresh breeze to the Vietnamese music scene amid the saturation of ballad genres.
At the 2018 Zing Music Awards, JustaTee was nominated for Artist of the Year and Favorite Collaboration (with Phương Ly). "Đã lỡ yêu em nhiều" was nominated for Favorite R&B/Soul Song. "Thằng điên" won Favorite R&B/Soul Song and was nominated for Music Video of the Year. At the 2018 Làn Sóng Xanh Awards, "Đã lỡ yêu em nhiều" won the Top 10 Favorite Songs award, "Thằng điên" was nominated for Music Video of the Year, and JustaTee, along with Phương Ly and ViruSs, were nominated for Outstanding Collaboration. JustaTee received two nominations in the categories of New Artist of the Year and Music Video of the Year ("Thằng điên") at the 14th Contribution Music Awards.
In early 2019, JustaTee produced "Anh là ai" for Phương Ly. He then released "Hết mana" in collaboration with BigDaddy and rapper Bình Gold, and also teamed up with South Korean singer Hyomin of T-ara for "Cabinet". He released ‘Lus’ and collaborated with Min and Đen on the trending song "Vì yêu cứ đâm đầu". JustaTee was nominated in the Outstanding Collaboration category (with Min and Đen) at the 2019 Làn Sóng Xanh Awards. In 2020, JustaTee collaborated with singer Hoàng Thùy Linh and Đen to release "Làm gì phải hốt". He and Phương Ly released the song "Ta là" in collaboration with the British electronic music group Clean Bandit as part of the Tuborg Open 2019 music project. Later, JustaTee and singer Tiên Tiên released the song "Cần gì hơn".
In August 2020, JustaTee participated in the Rap Việt music television series as a judge alongside Rhymastic in the first season, which aired weekly on HTV2 (Vie Channel) and on the VieON online video streaming app. At the start of the show, JustaTee collaborated with Rhymastic, Binz, female rapper Suboi, and male rappers Karik and Wowy in "Đây là Rap Việt." He paired with male contestant rapper MCK in "Dân chơi xóm." Rap Việt won the Series of the Year award at the 16th Contribution Music Awards, TV Show of the Year at the 2020 WeChoice Awards, and was nominated for the 2020 Mai Vàng Award for Television Program.
In late 2020, JustaTee released "Birthday thọt" in collaboration with MCK and female rapper Tlinh (a contestant on Rap Việt), and contributed vocals to Min's "Mlem mlem" alongside male rapper Yuno Bigboi (also a Rap Việt contestant). He also contributed vocals to Đen's "Đi về nhà." This song helped both artists win the Music Video of the Year award at the 16th Contribution Music Awards, and three awards at the 2021 Blue Wave Awards, including Top 10 Favorite Songs, Outstanding Collaboration, and Favorite Song on Radio.
2021–present: Continuing with Rap Việt and becoming music director