chủ tịch kim discography

I don't know if this can be called a discography, because this musician has not released an album yet. his album is petit, very little, very small, very cute, and I think that's the wholesome thing about it. I've always preferred smaller and more curated discography to bigger ones that sound very diluted.

kim in kẻ thống trị thanh bình, or the peacemaker.
the visuals of this music video reminds me of 90s hong kong as in wong kar-wai movies.

chủ tịch kim (or chairman kim, kim the chairman in english) is a musical artist based in hanoi. kim can mean needle or metal in vietnaemse. this is an inside joke because if you ask an average people who chủ tịch kim is, they would think about kim jong un (president kim), rather than the artist. I first discovered him thanks to the magic of youtube algorithm. I listened to his music when I was doing dishes all the time in my high school years in 2022, a few months after my first breakup. the first few songs that I listened to was gói những bông hoa nhỏ tặng em (making a bouquet of little flowers to gift you) and anh sẽ ôm em đến hết mùa hoa rơi (I will hold you to the end of the flower season). I fell in love with it almost immediately. if there is an antithesis to toxic masculinity, here it is. most songs read and sound like the confessions of a man in and out of love with rich flower imagery. it showcased the male gender in a very soft way, something that's mostly reserved to the other sex. it is soft, gentle, and it's the kind of music that caresses my soul and wounds.

fast forward to november 2023, kim returns after a few years of absence with his song chắc là một bông hoa màu tím (maybe it's a purple flower). this was also the same time that I listened to his older song viễn miên (distant dream). I was not kidding when I tell you that this and the russian waltz and edward hopper playlists was the music that carried me through the first semester in college as I navigated emotional turmoil and homesickness. something about it is very calming, almost hypnotic, that put my mind at ease everytime I listen to it. if there's a reason why I got myself doc martens boots, it would be this song. according to most people I've asked, they also love the songs with flower lore (gói những bông hoa nhỏ tặng em, chắc là một bông hoa màu tím).

it was actually thu hải đường, or begonia, not hoa hải đường, or camellia, as I mistaked

18 jan 2025 update: his song viễn miên inspired me to get dr martens lmao

kim still makes music, but it became a part time thing. in an interview, he expressed how he stopped doing music because there came a time when he had to find what he truly loves, and it's not listening to people sing his songs, but the feeling of doing something together with everyone. other reasons are financial. kim now runs a bar in hà nội called chân chạm cát (feet touching sand). kim remarked how after running this bar and knowing what he liked better, he approached songwriting with a less stressed mindset. chắc là một bông hoa màu tím is the song that was released after his bar days, and it sounds more hopeful than some of the songs before. according to kim, everytime he sings this song on stage, there would be at least a couple that was kissing.

I came to his bar during my (first) trip to hanoi, trying silk and a white russian there. what I can say is that the bar really feels like the body of the songs he have written, which were the soul. art can be an increasingly solitary pursuit, but to actualize the place you've thought of in songs, to create a medium for something to happen (the bar is open 24/7), and to find your own home people that work together with you is another level, and I respect that. sometimes you have to create your world so that people can see, and maybe somehow find their own too.

everyone reacts differently when alcohol hits. for me, it helps my writing a lot. now I kind of get why creative people have alcohol in their routine as in mason currey's daily rituals: how artists work. it helps with the loosening. if there's a drink for the word doucement (slowly, gently) in french, I think that would be lụa (silk). it tastes like beginnings, and I want it to remain that way. mãi mãi ngày đầu tiên. white russian tastes like cà phê cà phê sữa đá (vietnam iced milk coffee) if it was a drink. I think my hell dad was right, it doesn't matter what your fav drink is, after meeting me it will be a white russian.

your drunk self is not very different from your awake self. people drink to forget but lmao when I drink I get even more awake and honest with myself. some peole drink to run away from themselves. but if you drink alcohol because you want to be interesting or escaping from your personna, I don't think it's healthy. there is beauty in candor, genuinity, and just being honest.

I think no one is too private, they just express their secrets in different ways. some through music, some through films, things they make, things they watch, and things that they write about (like I'm doing right now lol).

when I wake up the next day, I miss water a lot.

dissecting discography

this list is based on the chronological order of when these songs are uploaded to spotify, the earlier songs (in italics) are on soundcloud only

songs in bold have flower references (hoa) in its song names

songs with asterisks (*) are hype and very yearning songs, the rest are soft caressing yearning lullabies

songs with stars ★ are translated entirely because they are so lyrically perfect

2018 thu hải đường / begonia

2018 đi đâu ta cũng hát / singing wherever we go

2019 anh sẽ ôm em đến hết mùa hoa rơi / I will hold you to the end of the flower season

2019 nhưng anh có em rồi / but I already had you*

2019 gói những bông hoa nhỏ tặng em / making a bouquet of little flowers to gift you ★

2020 cho lần cuối / for the last time* ★

2020 viễn miên / distant dream ★

2020 kẻ thống trị thanh bình / peacemaker*

2021 ta chớp nhoáng / as we dash by*

2023 chắc là một bông hoa màu tím / maybe it's a purple flower

there are also a couple songs (đói* and chết*, or hunger and death) that were not posted onto any main platforms but was in this ep called đi đâu ta cũng hát (singing wherever we go) back in 2019. I assume these are unofficial or unpublished.

lore guide

1. most songs have flower references.

2. according to a comment I saw in viễn miên, viễn miên is a continuation of thu hải đường. kim has a close sister that taught him a lot about begonia, the flower of which he has a tattoo on, who unfortunately passed away in an accident. the description of viễn miên reads "hãy tỉnh dậy và nói chuyện với anh" (wake up and talk to me). these two songs remind me of the continuation from robbers to about you by the 1975. one from experiencing life changing sensations and one to the remembering phase, and I think it's truly a beautiful thing. to this date, these are my two favorite songs by kim for the existential mode that it plunges me into.

3. inside jokes: he has very creative versions of the song's original acronyms:

#GNBHNTE

original: gói những bông hoa nhỏ tặng em (making a bouquet of little flowers to gift you)

parody:

ghét những bạn hôm nay táng em

gàu nạm bỏ hành nhé thanks em

gửi ngàn bát họ này tới em

giá như bác hồ nhớ tên em (if only uncle hồ (hồ chí minh) remembered your name, my favorite)

gãi ngứa bụng hộ nhé thanks em

giá như bữa hổm nắm tay em

#KTTTB (don't know if this was another inside joke but the lore started at 3:14, or the pi number)

original: kẻ thống trị thanh bình (peacemaker)

parody:

khúc tre tôi tặng bố (the bamboo section that I gifted to my dad)

kiểm tra thứ trong bình (checking the thing inside the bottle)

khi tôi tỏ tình bạn (when I confess to you)

không tiến thì thành bạn (if we don't go one step further, we shall remain friends)

không trần trụi thì bai (if you're not naked, fuck off)

không thích thì thôi bye (if you don't like it, fuck off)

khung trời tạo thành bạn (the sky created you)

không thể thoát trung bình (can't escape average grades, my favorite)

không thể thấy trời buồn (can't see the sad sky)

kiến trúc trắc trở boiz (troubled architecture student/boiz, also another favorite)

không tắm thì thôi, bước (if you're not showering, fuck off)

ffkiếm tao thêm tờ báo (get me another newspaper, good one)

không thích thì thôi biến (if you don't like it, fuck off)

my favorite lines

I translated most of the french ones by myself then double checked with google translate lmao.

I find the french translations better than the english ones. for words such as ngọt ngào, doucement conveys both the taste and the texture (sweet and tender), while sweetly in english would have only conveyed the taste. also future tenses also make it sound very soft. french is a language made to sound good, not to make sense, so it works in the context of singing.

go here for full ★ songs translations.

0. chết / death / mort

tôi thấy gì? tôi thấy gì?

what do I see? what do I see?

que vois-je? que vois-je?

I. thu hải đường / begonia / bégonia

nếu em ở đây

nếu em ở ngay cạnh anh

nếu em nằm đây

nếu em nhìn anh

sẽ giữ cho riêng mình

anh sẽ nuốt đôi môi em ngọt ngào

anh mong trời đừng mang em đi

anh mong rằng mùi hương em còn mãi

như khi ta vừa gặp

if you are here

if you are right next to me

if you lie here

if you look at me

I will keep you for myself

I will swallow your lips tenderly

I hope that fate won't take you away from me

I hope that your scent lingers

as the first day that we met

si t'es là

si t'es juste à côté de moi

si tu es allongé ici

si tu me regardes

je te garderai pour moi

j'avalerai tes lèvres doucement

j'espère que le destin ne t'éloignera pas de moi

j'espère que ton parfum persistera

comme le 1e jour où nous nous sommes rencontrés

II. anh sẽ ôm em đến hết mùa hoa rơi / I will hold you until the end of the flower season / je te tiendrai dans mes bras jusqu'à la fin de la saison des fleurs

sao anh cứ chọn theo cách nặng nề

sao anh không đến bên em

sao anh cứ lo cho vạn vật

mà lãng quên hết

ô kính vội trào cơn mưa tới

anh sẽ ôm em đến hết mùa hoa rơi

khi bóng anh ngập chìm sâu tăm tối

xin em giữ chút ánh sáng dành cho anh

why have I always chosen the heavy way

why didn't I come to you

why did I worry about everything else

just to forget everything

the window hastily showers in the incoming rain

I will hold you until the end of the flower seasons

when my shadow drowns in darkness

please save some light for my part

pourquoi ai-je toujours choisi le façon très lourd

pourquoi ne suis-je pas venu à toi

pourquoi me suis-je inquiété de tout le reste

juste pour tout oblier

le fênetre s'averse à la hâte sous la pluie qui arrive

je te tiendrai dans mes bras jusqu'à la fin de la saison des fleurs

quand mon ombre se noiera dans l'obscurité

garde un peu de lumière pour moi, s'il te plaît OU sois mon lumière, s'il te plaît

III. nhưng anh có em rồi / but I already had you / mais je t'avais déjà

anh thích cô ta

anh thích cô ta

anh là thằng lồn thích ngắm gái

quá ngon cho đêm nay

nhưng anh có em rồi

em sẽ cho anh hút

em sẽ cho anh nghiện

em để anh say

nhưng gái thì không

trời ban anh cả một biển dục vọng

họ nói họ thấy con đười ươi trăng hoa (trăng hoa)

anh chỉ sống theo bản năng

nhưng anh có em rồi

I like her

I like her

I am an asshole that love looking at girls

too good for tonight

but I already had you

you will let me smoke

you will let me get addicted

you will let me get drunk

but not into any girl

life showers me with an ocean of lust

they told me they saw the womanizer orangutan (womanizer)

I only live off my instinct

but I already had you

je l'aime

je l'aime

j’suis un con qui aime regarder les filles

trop bien pour ce soir

mais je t’avais déjà

tu me laisseras fumer

tu me laisseras devenir accro

tu me laisseras me saouler

mais pas des femmes!

la vie m'inonde d'un océan de désir

ils m'ont dit qu'ils avaient vu l'orang-outan coureur de jupons (coureur de jupons)

je ne vis que de mon instinct

mais je t’avais déjà

IV. kẻ thống trị thanh bình / peacemaker / dirigeant pacifique OU pacificateur

ta thú tội như kẻ xưng danh

bang bang bang mùi kẹo đồng* ở đằng sau (= đạn)

we confess like the confessor

bang bang bang the smell of the copper candy* behind us (= bullets)

je confesse en tant que confesseur

bang bang bang l'odeur du bonbon au cuivre dans le fond (= balles)

V. ta chớp nhoáng / as we dash by* / alors qu'on passe en un éclair

(song title inspired by wong kar-wai's as tears go by)

em biết điều đó khi em nhìn anh

em biết điều đó mà phải không

em biết điều đó bởi vì em cũng đang quẩn quanh

em biết tình yêu là thứ cảm xúc thật là mong manh như mong chiếc xe đó chết phanh

em mong là hắn chết

thay vì anh

you knew it when you looked at me

you knew it, didn't you

you knew it because you were also hovering around

you knew that love is a delicate thing like you're wishing for that car's brake to break

you wish that he would die

instead of me

tu le savais quand tu m'as regardé

tu le savais, n'est-ce pas

tu le savais parce que tu tournais aussi autour

tu savais que l'amour est une chose délicate comme quand tu souhaite que le frein de cette voiture se casse

espère que le brake de la voiture cassera

tu souhaites qu'il meure

à ma place

VI. chắc là một bông hoa màu tím / maybe it's a purple flower / c'est peut-être une fleur violette

hãy biến anh thành một chiếc vòng đeo tay

hãy biến anh thành đôi giày mang vận may

hãy biến anh thành

một thứ em thật sự cần đến

vậy hãy yêu đi

vậy hãy yêu đi

trước khi nụ hoa tàn

turn me into a bracelet

turn me into lucky charm shoes

turn me into

something you actually need

so let's love*

so let's love*

before the flower bud wilts**

(lowkey reminds me of soko's we might be dead by tomorrow, soundtrack of the end of the f***ing world: so let's love fully and let's love loud, and let's love now, 'cause soon enough we'll die)

(reminds me of that scene in wes anderson's rushmore where max fischer said this latin phrase sic transit gloria mundi, or glory fades)

transforme-moi en bracelet

transforme-moi en chaussures porte-bonheur

transforme-moi en

quelque chose dont tu as réellement besoin

alors aimons-nous

alors aimons-nous

avant que le bouton de fleur ne fane