She waited a few weeks before returning to Vietnam. Mai Khôi arranged to be in the United States when the album“Dissent” was released. In Vietnam, dissidents are talked about on the news like they’re enemies of the state,” she told Al Jazeera. “We decided to change because their families didn’t want them performing under that name. The police violence she witnessed in that demonstration affected Mai Khôi deeply and led her to write a song about it, “Cuffed in Freedom.”Īfter naming her band “Mai Khôi and the Dissidents,” the singer realized that she had crossed a line with the authorities, and she changed the band’s name to Mai Khôi Chém Gió (a sardonic name that translates as boasting or exaggerating) when her next album, “Dissent,” was released. That spring, she joined the street protests over an environmental disaster in coastal Hà Tĩnh province that had been caused by a Taiwanese company. The Vietnam Fatherland Front, a Party organ that oversees civil society, disqualified her from participating in the election. In early 2016, Mai Khôi nominated herself as an independent candidate for Vietnam’s National Assembly. I worried that she would be tossed into jail. She sang at my birthday party, and I met her Australian husband, Ben, and began to think of her as a younger sister. I invited Mai Khôi to join us for a few U.S. We want to stop our fear of authoritarianism.” When she stopped submitting her lyrics to the censors, her performances were effectively banned, and she was blacklisted. “Want the right to be human, living free from tyranny. As she grew as an artist, Mai Khôi’s lyrics became more provocative. She used her fame to push for creative freedom and, gradually, for political freedom. In 2010, with the success of her song, “Vietnam,” which won the country’s top song-writing award, and she became a celebrated pop star. Commenting on her star power, ABC News said, “She’s been called the Lady Gaga of Vietnam, but Mai Khôi arguably has less in common with Gaga than the Russian activist group, Pussy Riot.”īorn in 1983, Mai Khôi has been playing music since she was twelve years old. The press had begun referring to Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi as “Vietnam’s Lady Gaga.” A talented singer and songwriter, and a strong supporter of LGBT+ rights, Mai Khôi seemed to enjoy provoking the authorities. Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi - 'Vietnam’s Lady Gaga'
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