Introduction to Keshi
Keshi, born Casey Thai Luong, is perhaps Sugar Land’s biggest pop star. On a recent summer night at White Oak Music Hall, the concert venue buzzed with thousands of excited fans, dressed in an aesthetic that can only be described as “alternative cowboy.” Black cowboy hats, boots, and dangly silver piercings formed the unofficial uniform for fans of Houston-bred pop star Keshi.
The Rise of Keshi
As the sun sank behind the downtown skyline, anticipation built. When Keshi finally takes the stage—bare-chested in a black zip-up hoodie and cowboy hat—his hit song “Amen” blares through the speakers. “All of the glory, all of the weight of the world, on my shoulders crashing down on me,” he croons. “But I want more, I want more!” When the song ends, Keshi turns toward the crowd. “Houston f—in’ Texas!” he screams. “Holy f—, it’s good to be home.” Fresh off a career milestone at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the Vietnamese American singer-songwriter, formally known as Casey Thai Luong, returned to the city on August 4 for his homecoming stop of his Requiem World Tour.
Early Life and Career
Since uploading his first tracks to SoundCloud in 2017, Luong has amassed an international following enamored with his lo-fi, genre-bending sound. Songs like the mellow “Soft Spot” and dreamy “LIMBO” have become smash hits, cultivating over 300 million streams and more than 7 million monthly listeners on Spotify. But even as his stardom grows, hometown fans have held Keshi down through his meteoric rise. Before dedicating his life to music, Luong worked as an oncology nurse at the Texas Medical Center. His passion for music was a side hustle—recording music part-time and uploading songs and short snippets to SoundCloud in 2017.
Dedication to Music
Two years after gaining an overnight following, Luong made the leap. He quit his nursing gig and dove into music head-on, signing a deal with Island Records. Early fans may remember his musical “how-to” and behind-the-scenes YouTube videos that offered a glimpse into his creative process and music production. In one of his earliest uploads, Luong, then a short-haired, fresh-faced newcomer, sits on the floor of an unfurnished room with a MacBook, adding in layers of kicks, snares, and triangle sounds to “like I need u,” which appeared on his breakout EP, The Reaper.
Connection to Houston
Since then, his artistry has deepened and grown more personal. Keshi’s love for the Lone Star State is incarnate in his Requiem hit, “Texas.” In the track, Luong yearns for home, asking listeners to take him back to where the “sun was third-degree” and the nostalgia of driving alongside train tracks, a reference to a stretch of US 90 near Sugar Land. To fans, Keshi isn’t just a Houston artist—he’s a symbol of Houston culture. Houstonians Kathryn Mey and Adam Bueno drove in from Austin and got a speeding ticket during their three-hour drive back to school. “It’s amazing to see an Asian American from Houston succeed,” Mey says, especially in a city with a sizable Vietnamese population.
Fan Support
Some fans traveled even farther. Maribel Petraza and Jake Martinez made the trek from San Antonio to hear Keshi’s “angelic voice.” “It’s just nice to have somebody from Texas that’s really getting out there and representing Texas,” Petraza adds. Sisters Jazmin Davila and Dariella Davila drove in from Eagle Pass, five hours east of Houston, and superfan Estelle Wang, who hailed from the UK, marked the Houston show her 21st Keshi concert since discovering his music in 2019. The Houston show, however, was extra special, Wang says. “Seeing Keshi perform in Houston is a kind of celebration of his personal journey. It’s not just a concert, it’s…a return to where his story began.”
Conclusion
The hometown love was undeniable. Mid-show, a group of fans held up a poster of Luong’s high school yearbook photo from Stephen F. Austin High School in Fort Bend County. Another fan fainted, prompting a brief pause in the performance. And during his encore, a sea of hands threw up the “H” sign as the crowd scream-sang his lyrics from “Id”: “Three 7s, H-town reppin’…had to play at MSG so y’all could get the message,” referencing Keshi’s hometown roots and biggest tour stop. Keshi felt the energy, too, debuting his then-unreleased single “Wantchu” live on stage for the first time. “Growing up, [I] played shows where there was no one,” he explained. “To see this big crowd—it means everything to me.”
