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Vava (rapper)

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Mao Yanqi
毛衍七
Mao at a performance in 2019
Born29 October 1995
Ya'an, Sichuan, China
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer
Years active2014–present
Musical career
Labels种梦音乐 D.M.G.(Dream Music Group) & Warner Music China

Mao Yanqi (Chinese: 毛衍七; born 29 October 1995),[1] professionally known as Vava, is a Chinese rapper and singer from Ya'an, Sichuan.[2] Her English stage name Vava is a synonym for "doll" in Chinese (Chinese: 娃娃; pinyin: Wawa), chosen as she had a "baby face" when she was little.[3]

Childhood and early career

Mao Yanqi was raised in a single parent household[4] after the death of her father.[5] 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.[3] Later, she began to travel around China performing.[3] 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.[6] During the season she rapped in both Mandarin and 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 6 October 2017.[citation needed] One song from the album, "My New Swag" (我的新衣) was featured in the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians.[7] Vava was also featured in "New World" by Krewella.[8][9] She had a modeling contract with American designer Alexander Wang[5] and the sportswear brand Kappa.[1]

In 2018, the Chinese government blocked hip-hop culture and actors with tattoos from appearing on television.[10][11] As a result, VaVa was removed from a television show named Happy Camp.[12] She said being off TV gave her time to focus on making music.[3]

Her second album, "毛衍七", was released on 6 November 2019.[13] VaVa signed with Warner Music China in August 2019.[14][15] She was signed to 种梦音乐 D.M.G., which is also known as Dream Music Group, in 2021 and she and GAI became the mentor of The New Generation Project Of Hip-Hop. In 2021, she caused controversy by dressing as Nicki Minaj and wearing blackface on the 白变大咖秀 television show.[16] She became a member of The Father Of Success of The Rap Of China 2022.

She released V-Mystery in 2022.

Chinese hip-hop

While Vava was influenced by Rihanna and Little Simz, her biggest musical influence as a child was Jay Chou.[3] VaVa is a strong advocate for incorporating more Chinese influences in Chinese hip-hop and rap.[3] In her popular song “My New Swag” she used several traditional Chinese instruments: pipa (琵琶), erhu (二胡), suona (唢呐), guban (鼓板), and pitched cymbals xiaoluo (小锣) and daluo (大锣). She also incorporated an aria from the Peking opera, Selling Water (卖水), during the bridge,[17] sung by opera singer Wang Qianqian.[18] Along with other Mainland pop culture figures, VaVa has publicly taken a pro-Mainland government stance regarding Hong Kong, stating on her social media pages that she feels that Hong Kong will always be a part of China.[5]

Discography

21 (2017)

No.TitleTranslated titleLength
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 Celebrity3:52
5."Get It On The Floor"Get It On The Floor3:08
6."Happy Everyday"Happy Everyday3:16
7."Life's a Struggle"Life's a Struggle3:50
8."讓 (feat. Evis Wy)"U Make Me (feat. Evis Wy)3:33
9."Rap Star"Rap Star3:58
10."Back In My Zone"Back In My Zone3:29
11."On My Way (Outro)"On My Way (Outro)1:26
Total length:35:05

21 Part II (2018)

No.TitleTranslated titleLength
1."找朋友"Find Friends3:04
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 Emperor3:31
5."玻尿酸"Hyaluronic4:00
Total length:17:03

毛衍七 (2019)

No.TitleTranslated titleLength
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.TitleLength
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

V-Dynasty, Pt. 1 (2020)

No.TitleTranslated titleLength
1."Face 2 Face" 2:07
2."安逸"Eazy Life3:48
3."Let's Go (feat. 周延)"Let's Go (feat. GAI)2:53
4."咋個嘞喃"Wussup Wit That2:57
5."Calm Down" 2:33
Total length:14:18

References

  1. ^ a b c d Verberg, Gabi (29 August 2018). "The Women Changing the Chinese Rap Scene: Top 3 Most Popular Female Rappers of China". Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "China's hip-hop queen makes her mark on Crazy Rich Asians". South China Morning Post. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "VaVa: The Chinese rapper on her difficult childhood, Chinese hip-hop and government censorship". Esquire SG. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  4. ^ Montgomery, William (27 May 2019). "Analysis and Utilization of Hip-Hop Techniques in Classical Music". LSU Doctoral Dissertations. doi:10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.4946. S2CID 195452312.
  5. ^ a b c Sullivan, Jonathan; Zhao, Yupei (17 December 2019). "Rappers as Knights-Errant: Classic Allusions in the Mainstreaming of Chinese Rap" (PDF). Popular Music and Society. 44 (3): 274–291. doi:10.1080/03007766.2019.1704476. ISSN 0300-7766. S2CID 212953303.
  6. ^ bureau, Beijing (13 September 2017). "Hip-hop takes centre stage in China". BBC News. Retrieved 1 April 2020. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ "You'll Want To Listen To All Of These Amazing Songs From 'Crazy Rich Asians' On Repeat". Bustle. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Krewella & Yellow Claw – New World (feat. Vava)". www.apelzin.ru (in Russian). 25 January 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  9. ^ Bhavani, Divya Kala (31 December 2018). "Live for the night with Krewella". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  10. ^ "China Has Banned Hip-Hop Culture and Tattoos From TV Shows". Time. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  11. ^ 安东 (19 January 2018). "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 1 April 2020.
  12. ^ "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 1 April 2020.
  13. ^ 毛衍七, 6 November 2019, retrieved 1 April 2020
  14. ^ "Chinese Rapper Vava Signs to Warner Music China". Billboard. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Vava Signs to Warner Music China - Warner Music Group Official Blog". Warner Music Group Official Website. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  16. ^ Jake Newby (11 April 2021). "Rapper Vava Called Out Over Use of Blackface in Tribute to Nicki Minaj". Radii.
  17. ^ 彭嘉彬 (27 October 2017). "【一首歌】VaVa《我的新衣》嘻哈加京劇 最強跨界合作". 香港01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  18. ^ "The Chinese rappers showing the world how cool China is". South China Morning Post. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
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