Vava

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.

Her second album, "毛衍七", was released on November 6, 2019. VaVa signed with Warner Music China in August, 2019.

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.

She released her first album “21” on October 6, 2017. One song from the album, "My New Swag" (我的新衣) 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.

Mao Yanqi (Chinese: 毛衍七 ; born 29 October 1995), 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 (Chinese: 娃娃 ; pinyin: Wawa ), as she had a "baby face" when she was little.