Aok Sokunkanha ឱក សុគន្ធកញ្ញា

Aok Sokunkanha (ឱក សុគន្ធកញ្ញា)

Date of birth: September 14, 1987

Young, talented, bright, hard working, pretty, gentle, well-educated - not to mention her ability to rock and roll, Aok Sokunkanha is all that! Then, you may wonder where the journey of this extremely talented artist began and why she is now so right on track. In short, it is her determination and hard working. Of course she was born in a family deep-rooted in music but she is the one who made what she is today herself. Aok Sokunkanha started her career exploration in entertaining people since she was about 10 years old. While some girls still play dirt in Cambodia at her age, Aok Sokunkanha would go with her father who was a musician and sang along. She took any opportunity she could to show off her God-given talent on stage and not let go the microphone until she is now a professional singer.

Aok Sokunkanha was born on September 14, 1986 (1987 based on other sources) in Phnom Penh. She is the eldest child in the family among another sister. Her mother – En Sokun is now divorced still lives with her and her sister in Phnom Penh. According to some news sources, her father now lives in Australia. Aok Sokunkanha is a Fine Art University graduate. Her major is Khmer Traditional Dance. Part of the introduction for the interview with Yuk Chinda for CTN Channel 21, Aok Sokunkanha performed a beautiful solo Robam Chuen Por (Blessing Dance). Aok Sokunkanha now lives with her mother in Phnom Penh, managing her beauty salon with her mother when she is free.

When it comes to her career path, it is very interesting to know that Aok Sokunkanha always likes music since she was young. Initially, her father didn’t know that Sokunkanha had the talent and he was surprised when he heard her singing behind the wall when he was teaching his students to sing. Then, he always took her with him when he and his music band performed. Sokunkanha’s father also wrote Rock music and songs. So he wrote songs Aok Sokunkanha Performing Robam Chuen Por (Blessing Dance) for her to sing. One day when the singer of the band was absent, Aok Sokunkanha ruled the stage! In the documentary video clip, Aok Sokunkanha was just a little girl - 10 years old but she rocked the stage like a star. Her mother also liked to sing. Sokun Kagna and her mother always went to Ear Vathana’s house to sing Koraoke. Knowing there was a great potential for marketing opportunity, Ear Vathana who was later the producer of Reaksmey Stung Songke (RSK) production decided to create CD albums for her together with Kum Buna Deth, Yourk Thit Ratha, Sem Sang Vath and Bou Vichet in 1998. The name of the production at the time was EV Production – short for Ear Vathana – the producer’s name.

Aok Sokunkanha worked for EV Production while studying Khmer Traditional Dance at Pumen Fine Art University. Sokunkanha participated in a signing contest sponsored by TVK with Yourk Thit Ratha. She did not receive any award from the contest. She said she was only 12 at the time and the age requirement was 15 and above. Later, Aok Sokunkanha participated in another singing contest called Pon Lok Dara (Emerging Stars) sponsored by TV5. Again, she did not get any award either. She said it was because she sang a Rock song written by her father while the Program required a slow song. After a few years, EV Production was disbanded. After she finished High School, she then sang for U2 Club at night and worked for Reaskmey Stung Songke (RSK) Production and going to school during day time. Aok Sokunkanha was more and more recognized for her style and unique voice by both young and middle-age generations.