Dam Vinh Hung: 'I am better than others because I know where I sing badly'

The male singer shares about his journey from a barber to the "king of Vietnamese music" and how he built the Mr. Dam brand.

Dam Vinh Hung was a speaker at the FPT Media Conference on Branding and Branding on the afternoon of December 10 in Hanoi. The male singer shared that to build his name like today, he did not have a professional, magnificent media team like many people think. All ideas were thought up by himself and passed on to his colleagues.

The stage name Mr. Dam was also given to him by himself because he liked the name that evoked the masculinity and elegance of a gentleman. However, the male singer does not like to accept the title "king of Vietnamese music" - a beautiful title given to him by the media.

Dam Vinh Hung at FPT Media Conference.

Dam Vinh Hung confided that one of the secrets to his success is understanding his own strengths and weaknesses, so that he does not have any illusions about anything and always strives to improve.

More than 20 years ago, the male singer's family encountered economic difficulties, forcing him to choose the profession of barber to make ends meet. However, his passion for singing always urged him to step onto the stage. To realize that dream, Mr. Dam had to make many sacrifices.

When he first started his career, every day at 5pm, he closed his hair salon and drove to a stage in Thu Duc district, Ho Chi Minh City. There, Dam Vinh Hung waited for the opportunity if a singer had a problem, like a stomachache or a traffic jam, and he could fill in the vacancy.

According to Mr. Dam, his only assets at that time were passion and "a good ear". Dam Vinh Hung explained: "In this profession, winning and losing is not about who sings better but about knowing where you sing poorly, knowing who you are so you can correct and improve".

Back then, he often hung out with singers. At that time, Hanoi singers were very popular in Saigon, so Dam Vinh Hung figured he had to speak with a Northern accent to be fashionable. He asked singer Vu Ha to introduce him to a bar owner as "a young man from the North".

After Dam Vinh Hung tried singing, the owner declared: "Ha, tomorrow you take a day off so your sister can sing." Dam Vinh Hung concluded that in his career, sometimes he has to do everything to reach his dream.

Dam Vinh Hung with young audiences when he first started singing.

When he first started his career, the male singer idolized Thanh Lam. He performed the songs that the Vietnamese diva had performed, imitating her taste and style, to the point that “the whole of Saigon called Hung Thanh Lam”. That period lasted about two years, from 1998 to 2000.

One day, Dam Vinh Hung really liked Kitaro's song Caravan. He asked someone to translate the lyrics for him to perform. At that time, he was worried because Thanh Lam had never sung this song before. That situation forced Dam Vinh Hung to perform according to his own ability. Thanks to that, Mr. Dam revealed his personal mark.

From then on, he became more aware of being himself, because if he was just a copy of someone else, he would not be able to go far in his career.

Wanting to build a unique image, Mr. Dam once covered himself with a blanket and screamed to make his voice more hoarse and vibrating. In the hot weather of Saigon, the male singer still wore a scarf and a ba-đô-xuy shirt to stand out.

He humorously shared that at that time he received a bad reputation and was considered a "fashion disaster". But now, he is considered a stylish person.

“Anyone who has high-light hair will be said to look like Dam Vinh Hung, anyone who wears a scarf regardless of the weather will be said to copy Dam Vinh Hung. That is how I force people to accept my personality,” the male singer proudly said.

Not only in appearance, the male singer also freely shows his fierce personality. He never lets anyone bully him because if he lets himself be bullied once, he will most likely be bullied forever.

Dam Vinh Hung concluded that communication and building brand image play a very important role in each person's career. However, this factor only accounts for 60%, the rest lies in character, lifestyle and treatment of people.

According to VNE