Five Years in Exile
Lyrics translations available here. Available for purchase at maikhoi.bandcamp.com!
Mai Khôi founded Mai Khôi & the Dissidents in Vietnam in 2017 as a vehicle to perform her controversial songs protesting government censorship and police violence. The band performed secretly at underground shows in Hanoi until threats from the Vietnamese government forced the band to change their name, then ultimately dissolve. Following Khôi’s exile to the United States, she reformed the band in 2021 with local Pittsburgh musicians while continuing the group’s radical mission.
The American iteration of Mai Khôi & the Dissidents is an eclectic and experimental rock/jazz/pop quintet that’s as likely to launch into a noisy protest song or collective improvisation as a lullaby or love ballad. Their songs, cowritten with pianist Mark Micchelli, tackle some of the most pressing social justice issues of our time, including government censorship, police brutality, LGBTQ+ rights, sexism, and the rise of the authoritarian right. The Dissidents also serve as the backing band for Mai Khôi’s “Bad Activist,” a multimedia theater production that tells the story of Khôi’s journey from pop stardom to activism.