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] 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.[3]
Mao Yanqi | |
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毛衍七 | |
![]() Mao at a performance in 2019. | |
Born | 29 October 1995 Ya'an, Sichuan |
Nationality | China |
Occupation | Singer, Rapper |
Years active | 2017-Present |
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]
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 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.[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 November 6, 2019.[13] VaVa signed with Warner Music China in August, 2019.[14][15]
While Vava was influenced by Rihanna (from Barbados) and Little Simz (From England), 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), ban lei (Chinese clave), and gongs.[4] She also incorporated a short piece from a Peking opera, Selling Water, during the bridge,[16] sung by opera singer Wang Qianqian.[17] Along with other Mainland pop culture figures, VaVa has publicly taken a pro-Mainland government stance regarding Hong Kong, supporting police brutality, and has spoken against the pro-democracy protests, stating on her social media pages that she feels that Hong Kong will always be a part of China.[5]
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 |
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 |
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 |
No. | Title | Length |
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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 |
No. | Title | Translated title | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Face 2 Face" | 2:07 | |
2. | "安逸" | Eazy Life | 3:48 |
3. | "Let's Go (feat. 周延)" | Let's Go (feat. GAI) | 2:53 |
4. | "咋個嘞喃" | Wussup Wit That | 2:57 |
5. | "Calm Down" | 2:33 | |
Total length: | 14:18 |
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