Vava (rapper)
Mao Yanqi (Chinese: 毛衍七; born 29 October 1995),[1] professionally known as Vava, is a Chinese rapper from Ya'an, Sichuan, China.[2] She has been called China's Rihanna.[3] Her English stage name Vava is synonym for "doll" in Chinese (Chinese: 娃娃; pinyin: Wawa), chosen as she had a "baby face" when she was little.[4]
Mao Yanqi | |
---|---|
毛衍七 | |
Born | 29 October 1995 |
Nationality | China |
Occupation | Singer, Rapper |
Years active | 2017-Present |
Childhood/Early Career[]
Mao Yanqi was raised in a single parent household[5] after the death of her father.[6] While her mother worked far away from home,[1] her grandmother helped to care for her.[citation needed] At the age of 16 she chose to leave school and focus on developing her talents as a performer.[2] She traveled around performing in local bars near her home in Chengdu.[4] Later, she began to travel around China performing.[4] She met hip-hop producer Double G in Shenzhen city, and joined his team based in Shanghai.[2]
Rise to Fame[]
Vava rose to fame from her performance on the first season of the iQiyi television show The Rap of China. This show helped to bring underground rappers into the spotlight.[7] During the season she rapped in both chinese and Mandarin Sichuan dialects.[2] In the second round, she performed “Life’s a Struggle” but changed the lyrics to match her own childhood experiences.[1] She was the only female to reach the top four.[2]
She released her first album “21” on October 6, 2017.[citation needed] One song from the album, "My New Swag" (我的新衣) was featured in the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians.[8] Vava was also featured in "New World" by Krewella.[9][10] She had a modeling contract with American designer Alexander Wang[6] and the sportswear brand Kappa.[1]
In 2018, the Chinese government blocked hip-hop culture and actors with tattoos from appearing television.[11][12] As a result, VaVa was removed from a television show named Happy Camp.[13] She said being off TV gave her time to focus on making music.[4]
Her second album, "毛衍七", was released on November 6, 2019.[14] VaVa signed with Warner Music China in August, 2019.[3][15]
Chinese Hip-Hop[]
While Vava was influenced by Rihanna (from Barbados) and Little Simz (From England), her biggest musical influence as a child was Jay Chou.[4] VaVa is a strong advocate for incorporating more Chinese influences in Chinese hip-hop and rap.[4] In her popular song “My New Swag” she used several traditional Chinese instruments: pipa (琵琶), erhu (二胡), suona (唢呐), ban lei (Chinese clave), and gongs.[5] She also incorporated a short piece from a Peking opera, Selling Water, during the bridge,[16] sung by opera singer Wang Qianqian.[17]
Discography[]
21 (2017)[]
No. | Title | Translated title | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "U Should Know My Name (Intro)" | U Should Know My Name (Intro) | 1:14 |
2. | "Ego (feat. Blow Fever & Lexie)" | Ego (feat. Blow Fever & Lexie) | 3:16 |
3. | "我的新衣 (feat. Ty. & 王倩倩)" | My New Swag (feat. Ty. & Nina Wang) | 4:05 |
4. | "網紅" | Internet Celebrity | 3:52 |
5. | "Get It On The Floor" | Get It On The Floor | 3:08 |
6. | "Happy Everyday" | Happy Everyday | 3:16 |
7. | "Life's a Struggle" | Life's a Struggle | 3:50 |
8. | "讓 (feat. Evis Wy)" | U Make Me (feat. Evis Wy) | 3:33 |
9. | "Rap Star" | Rap Star | 3:58 |
10. | "Back In My Zone" | Back In My Zone | 3:29 |
11. | "On My Way (Outro)" | On My Way (Outro) | 1:26 |
Total length: | 35:05 |
21 Part II (2018)[]
No. | Title | Translated title | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "找朋友" | Find Friends | 3:04 |
2. | "One (feat. Lexie Liu)" | One (feat. Lexie Liu) | 3:08 |
3. | "Jump out of the window (feat. Evis Wy)" | Jump out of the window (feat. Evis Wy) | 3:19 |
4. | "说唱大帝 (feat. Kozay)" | Rap Emperor | 3:31 |
5. | "玻尿酸" | Hyaluronic | 4:00 |
Total length: | 17:03 |
毛衍七 (2019)[]
No. | Title | Translated title | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Intro" | 1:23 | |
2. | "D.I.W.D" | 3:19 | |
3. | "Rainbow" | 3:17 | |
4. | "所以说 (feat. 李大奔 & 王子)" | So...? (feat. Benzo & Zi) | 3:36 |
5. | "Friends" | 3:58 | |
6. | "Lie" | 3:05 | |
7. | "Higher Than You" | 3:10 | |
8. | "梦中情人 (feat. 满舒克)" | Dream Lover (feat. Young Jack) | 3:48 |
9. | "QUEEN IS BACK" | 2:58 | |
10. | "4" | 3:25 | |
Total length: | 31:59 |
Vow (2020)[]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "23:40 (Can't Commit)" | 2:52 |
2. | "Never Mind" | 1:43 |
3. | "The Weekend" | 2:46 |
4. | "Paper Passion" | 2:25 |
5. | "Man in a Ghost Town" | 2:47 |
Total length: | 12:35 |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Verberg, Gabi. "The Women Changing the Chinese Rap Scene: Top 3 Most Popular Female Rappers of China". Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "China's hip-hop queen makes her mark on Crazy Rich Asians". South China Morning Post. 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Chinese Rapper Vava Signs to Warner Music China". Billboard. 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "VaVa: The Chinese rapper on her difficult childhood, Chinese hip-hop and government censorship". Esquire SG. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Montgomery, William (2019-05-27). "Analysis and Utilization of Hip-Hop Techniques in Classical Music". LSU Doctoral Dissertations.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Sullivan, Jonathan; Zhao, Yupei (2019-12-17). "Rappers as Knights-Errant: Classic Allusions in the Mainstreaming of Chinese Rap". Popular Music and Society. 0: 1–18. doi:10.1080/03007766.2019.1704476. ISSN 0300-7766.
- ^ bureau, Beijing (2017-09-13). "Hip-hop takes centre stage in China". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "You'll Want To Listen To All Of These Amazing Songs From 'Crazy Rich Asians' On Repeat". Bustle. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "Krewella & Yellow Claw – New World (feat. Vava)". www.apelzin.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ Bhavani, Divya Kala (2018-12-31). "Live for the night with Krewella". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "China Has Banned Hip-Hop Culture and Tattoos From TV Shows". Time. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ 安东 (2018-01-19). "总局提出节目嘉宾标准:格调低纹身嘻哈文化不用|歌手|李泉|广电总局_新浪娱乐_新浪网". ent.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "太惨了,这一期《快乐大本营》把vava的镜头剪光了-腾讯网". new.qq.com. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ 毛衍七, retrieved 2020-04-01
- ^ "Vava Signs to Warner Music China - Warner Music Group Official Blog". Warner Music Group Official Website. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ 彭嘉彬 (2017-10-27). "【一首歌】VaVa《我的新衣》嘻哈加京劇 最強跨界合作". 香港01 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- ^ "The Chinese rappers showing the world how cool China is". South China Morning Post. 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
- 1995 births
- Living people
- Chinese women rappers
- Singers from Sichuan
- People from Ya'an
- 21st-century Chinese singers
- 21st-century Chinese women singers