Vava (rapper)


Mao Yanqi, professionally known as Vava, is a Chinese rapper and singer from Ya'an, Sichuan. Her English stage name Vava is a synonym for "doll" in Chinese, chosen as she had a "baby face" when she was little.
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Childhood and early career

Mao Yanqi was raised in a single parent household after the death of her father. While her mother worked far away from home, her grandmother helped to care for her. At the age of 16 she chose to leave school and focus on developing her talents as a performer. She traveled around performing in local bars near her home in Chengdu. Later, she began to travel around China performing. She met hip-hop producer Double G in Shenzhen city, and joined his team based in Shanghai.

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. During the season she rapped in both Mandarin and Sichuan dialects. In the second round, she performed “Life’s a Struggle” but changed the lyrics to match her own childhood experiences. She was the only female to reach the top four.
She released her first album “21” on 6 October 2017. One song from the album, "My New Swag" was featured in the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians. Vava was also featured in "New World" by Krewella. She had a modeling contract with American designer Alexander Wang and the sportswear brand Kappa.
In 2018, the Chinese government blocked hip-hop culture and actors with tattoos from appearing on television. As a result, VaVa was removed from a television show named Happy Camp. She said being off TV gave her time to focus on making music.
Her second album, "毛衍七", was released on 6 November 2019. VaVa signed with Warner Music China in August 2019.
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. She became a member of The Father Of Success of The Rap Of China 2022.
She released V-Mystery in 2022.

Artistry and influences

While Vava was influenced by Rihanna and Little Simz, her biggest musical influence as a child was Jay Chou. VaVa is a strong advocate for incorporating more Chinese influences in Chinese hip-hop and rap. In her popular song “My New Swag” she used several traditional Chinese instruments: pipa, erhu, suona, guban, and pitched cymbals xiaoluo and daluo. She also incorporated an aria from the Peking opera, Selling Water , during the bridge, sung by opera singer Wang Qianqian.

Politics

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. After the Fu Guohao incident, in which Hong Kong protestors tied up and beat a mainland-based Global Times journalist, VaVa shared on social media Fu's quote, "I support the Hong Kong police; you can beat me now" which became a viral expression of pro-establishment support.