Mao Yanqi, professionally known as Vava, is a Chinese rapper from Ya'an, Sichuan, China. She has been called China's Rihanna. She chose the English name Vava because it sounds like "baby" in Chinese, as she had a "baby face" when she was little.
Childhood/Early Career
Mao Yanqi was raised in a single parent householdafter 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 iQiyitelevision showThe 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 October 6, 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 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 November 6, 2019. VaVa signed with Warner Music China in August, 2019.
Chinese Hip-Hop
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: The ban lei, gongs, and a guzheng. She also incorporated a short piece from a Peking opera, Selling Water, during the bridge, sung by opera singer Wang Qianqian. Along with other Mainland pop culture figures, VaVa has spoken against pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, saying that she feels that Hong Kong will always be a part of China on her social media pages.
