VIral Sensation and 5 year old Rap phenom Van Van sits down with Caroline Wanga in this episode of Chief 2 Chief.
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00:00 Today I have Miss Savannah, who I have decided is the chief of outside.
00:08 My name is Vivian, I come play, play outside everyday.
00:13 Yeah, okay.
00:15 What do you think about that?
00:16 I'm the chief of pull out keys.
00:18 The chief of what?
00:19 Pull out keys.
00:20 Gotta call, pull out keys.
00:23 Hey!
00:24 Gotta call, pull out keys.
00:27 Alright, you ready to go play outside now?
00:28 Yes!
00:29 Come on, just leave something out the door.
00:30 Hello Essence family, this is Caroline Nwanga, president and CEO of Essence, and we are recording
00:35 another edition of our series called Chief to Chief, where we are meeting black women
00:40 around the world who are doing phenomenal things in different chief positions so that
00:45 you can find the chief within yourself.
00:47 So I want you to look into that camera, and I want you to tell people who you are, what's
00:53 your name?
00:54 Savannah Zoe McConaughey.
00:58 Zoe is your middle name?
00:59 Yeah.
01:00 I didn't know that.
01:01 I love that middle name.
01:03 And then tell them how old you are.
01:04 You gotta say it with your mouth.
01:08 Five.
01:08 Five?
01:09 Tell them when you turned five.
01:10 Yesterday.
01:11 Yesterday only.
01:14 So this is like kind of still your birthday.
01:16 Yeah.
01:16 Yeah.
01:17 So tell us about your new album.
01:19 Tell us about, can I put this on?
01:21 It won't fit.
01:21 Okay.
01:22 Tell us about your new album.
01:23 Tell the camera about your new album.
01:25 So it's pull out keys.
01:27 So what is so great about your new album?
01:29 Tell us about it.
01:30 What is it about?
01:31 It's about driving some car in the robo car.
01:38 What is a robo car?
01:39 A robo car drives by itself.
01:41 It drives by itself.
01:42 So are you in the robo car or you just wrote a song about the robo car?
01:46 Just about a car.
01:50 About a car.
01:50 And the keys.
01:52 And the keys.
01:52 And so that's the name of the song?
01:54 Yeah, pull out keys.
01:55 So can you tell us, tell me about your mommy and daddy.
02:00 So my dad, we work on the raps and I do the lyrics.
02:06 Girl on the block, been rapping for a minute but now I'm on the clock.
02:12 It's a new era.
02:14 My mom, she's really my stylist.
02:17 So we work, she's the greatest stylist in the world.
02:21 Tell me why.
02:22 Because she do my hair, she dress up my clothes, my mom.
02:27 Like I'm the fanciest girl in the world.
02:31 Really?
02:31 And I just love her.
02:33 I love her too.
02:34 And my mom and my dad and yeah.
02:37 So your dad helps you with the raps and your mama is the best stylist in the world.
02:43 Yes.
02:44 And you love them dearly, which is so wonderful.
02:47 So tell me about, talk to me about the raising part of her.
02:53 Meaning, clearly the child remembers she started when she was two.
02:55 But like talk to me about her and like how did you discover this?
03:01 How do you parent this?
03:02 Like let's talk about this little phenom.
03:04 When she was really little and I think she gets this from us too.
03:07 Like two years old, she has this two years old in her mind.
03:09 But literally when she was born, everybody's like, oh my gosh.
03:13 She's gonna be a start like before anything.
03:15 What was she doing that people said that?
03:16 I think it was like her smile, her look, her like her mannerisms.
03:21 I think just when as a baby, she just, her personality was just real bubbly and you know,
03:27 and she's the same, literally the same person.
03:30 I love that.
03:30 So how did you start rapping?
03:34 Like why do you like to rap?
03:36 Because I started at two years old.
03:38 Why?
03:38 Because I like rapping.
03:42 It's my favorite thing to do.
03:44 I be myself and I do the favorite things I like on rapping.
03:49 Yeah.
03:49 And me and my daddy listen to beats and yeah.
03:53 I love that.
03:54 So where did the rapping come from?
03:56 So she jumped on YouTube listening to that girl, Lay Lay and Young Dylan.
04:00 And she just like, Daddy, I want to do that.
04:01 And you know, as a parent, you know, you got parents that take their kids to AAU and send
04:07 them to practice and things like that.
04:08 So I'm like, if this is what you want to do and you will be serious about it,
04:12 then I'll help you as much as I can.
04:14 That's right.
04:15 On my end to pursue this.
04:17 What was the first rap you remember doing with your daddy?
04:20 My name is Van Van.
04:22 What?
04:23 Okay.
04:24 And why was that so special?
04:26 Because like I was playing outside and I like to play outside.
04:32 You do.
04:32 Why?
04:33 Because I like to play with my scooter.
04:36 Okay.
04:36 And did people like that song?
04:38 Yes.
04:38 Why?
04:38 Because it was a great song.
04:42 It was a great song.
04:43 What made it a great song?
04:44 Uh, my, um, my dad's best friend Jay, he, um, helped me did the song and, um, yeah.
04:54 And my dad.
04:55 And your dad.
04:56 And you keep looking over there at your dad because you love him, right?
04:58 Yeah.
04:59 So your daddy's best friend Jay helped you write the song and you put it out.
05:03 And what happened when you put the song out?
05:05 Did people start to talk to you about it?
05:07 Did people start to like it?
05:08 Yes, they loved it.
05:10 How did you know they loved it?
05:12 Because my daddy been telling me that I'm very hot.
05:15 Playing outside every day was funny because that wasn't even going to be a song.
05:19 Really?
05:20 We were sitting in the room and I cut on the beat and I'm like, baby, rap something to her.
05:25 She was like, my name is Van Van.
05:27 I ain't come to play.
05:28 And I put it up and like two days later, it was going viral and people was like, yo, let's make.
05:33 And so she did all her own lyrics.
05:35 So the hook, she writes all the hooks.
05:38 She does her hooks.
05:39 But the songs we do those together.
05:41 Yeah, it makes sense.
05:42 I mean, I can't do it at 40 something.
05:44 Right.
05:45 So we do those together.
05:46 And if I put something that she's like, that don't sound right.
05:50 I'm telling you, like we be in the studio or anything.
05:54 She was like, daddy, that don't sound right.
05:55 She throws her own words in there and can you tell him like, yo, that does sound better.
06:00 Like because she knows music so much.
06:02 Her the way she knows music is out of this world.
06:04 I heard you want to be an actress.
06:08 Yes.
06:09 Why?
06:10 Because my favorite thing to do.
06:12 So do you like?
06:13 My movie came out.
06:14 Girl, tell me you can tell me nothing about a movie.
06:17 What do you mean a movie came out?
06:18 My movie that I did, Crossover the World.
06:22 So when did you finish this movie?
06:24 Last year.
06:24 Last year.
06:25 That's a great answer.
06:26 Tell me about, I think, do you have a little brother?
06:30 Little sister.
06:33 Little sister.
06:34 How does it feel to be a big sister?
06:39 What was that?
06:40 Amazing.
06:40 Yeah.
06:41 Why does it feel so amazing?
06:45 Because I get to play with her.
06:47 Yeah.
06:47 And when she turned two years old, it was so much fun.
06:51 Yeah.
06:51 Do you teach her how to rap?
06:52 I think she's not going to be a rapper like me.
06:56 You don't think she's going to be a rapper like you?
06:57 Why?
06:58 Because I want us to be rap sisters.
07:00 Yeah.
07:01 But I think she's not going to rap like me.
07:04 I think she's going to sing like my mama.
07:06 Your mama sings?
07:07 What's your favorite song to hear your mama sing?
07:09 I want to dance with somebody.
07:12 Hey.
07:12 So tell me the origins, because what she is going to show me when we start again is how
07:16 to do the Van Van shuffle.
07:17 But tell me the origins of the Van Van shuffle.
07:20 Man, she's just been moving ever since she was born.
07:22 Moving.
07:23 And she always liked to move her arms and stuff.
07:26 So me, being an old head, I think about old school stuff.
07:30 So I just, you know, the shawty low and all them from Georgia just used to do that all
07:35 the time.
07:35 So I'm like, Van, just move your arms, baby, because you don't want to get into that other
07:39 stuff.
07:39 So she just stopped.
07:40 But all that extra stuff, she put it with it.
07:44 Wait, wait, wait.
07:49 OK, like this?
07:50 Yes, like this.
07:52 OK, yes, ma'am.
07:53 And then I put my left hand up and then I move it like this.
07:58 There we go.
07:59 Come on, look at me shuffling.
08:01 But I don't know no lyrics.
08:02 You got to do the lyrics.
08:03 I put my right hand up, then I bring the left.
08:06 Wait, I lost my rhythm.
08:07 And I hit the beat with the two steps.
08:08 Hey!
08:09 Did you go to a studio to record it?
08:12 Yes, I went to the studio that we're at right now.
08:17 So tell us what you did when you came into the studio.
08:19 So I was singing like this.
08:21 My name is Van Van.
08:23 What?
08:23 And here and in here.
08:25 So they can hear what I'm saying and hear what I'm doing good.
08:30 What was your favorite thing about being in this studio?
08:33 Because I like these animal prints.
08:35 You like the animal prints?
08:36 Like which one?
08:37 All of this.
08:38 All of this?
08:39 You call these animal prints?
08:41 Which animal is it?
08:42 I think it's a zebra.
08:44 It could be a zebra.
08:46 I mean, some zebras have squiggly lines.
08:49 You have a zebra on.
08:50 If there were other girls that are five years old that wanted to rap,
08:57 what would you tell them about how to rap?
09:03 Just work hard, listen to your parents, and be yourself.
09:06 I think that's phenomenal advice for grown-ups.
09:10 Interviewing her here, I don't think I've seen Van Van smile that much because I watch her videos.
09:15 Because one of my favorite things about her content is that happy, sad, same face.
09:20 Especially when she's doing the shuffle.
09:22 I was like, this child has the same face no matter what's happening.
09:27 It's like...
09:27 And it's hilarious.
09:30 It's hilarious.
09:31 So you can imagine that in this day and age,
09:34 kids who are on social media and what is both how parents are celebrated,
09:40 but also how they're criticized unfairly.
09:42 Do you guys deal with some of that?
09:44 What do people say and how do you deal with it?
09:46 Oh yeah, they criticize.
09:47 Because they'll make up some stories.
09:48 They will.
09:49 Because we ain't them other families that start with a K.
09:52 Yeah.
09:52 They'll make up.
09:55 But one thing that we keep her content wholesome.
09:59 So when Van Van is all grown up, who does she want to meet?
10:06 Do you have any favorite singers?
10:08 Yes.
10:08 Beyonce, Lele, Young Dylan.
10:12 Who is your favorite person you have met?
10:15 Because you meet a lot of people and a lot of people are your fans.
10:18 Freestyles.
10:19 We still playing outside every day.
10:21 Wow.
10:22 I hope you are.
10:23 Well, you know what?
10:24 Can I say something to you?
10:26 It's you.
10:27 Sister, I was about to say you're my favorite person.
10:30 So guess what?
10:30 Know how five years gonna leave me hanging?
10:32 Vanna love church.
10:34 She love God.
10:35 Listen, she'll come to me and be like, "Daddy, we need to pray."
10:38 And that's one thing like people don't see that stuff about her.
10:43 And I honestly think that's why God is blessing her career.
10:45 Just because of who she is.
10:46 Like in that light.
10:48 Listen, I want you to know that I came to visit you
10:53 because I am one of your biggest fans.
10:57 I think you're great.
10:58 I love everything that you do.
11:01 What I really love about you is that...
11:04 Your raps.
11:05 My rap is so cool.
11:08 Your raps are cool.
11:09 I mean, I have to give that, sister.
11:11 Your raps are cool.
11:12 But you know what else I like about you?
11:14 What I love about you is you are yourself.
11:18 And you are yourself.
11:20 What I love about you is how kind you are.
11:23 What I love about you is how you use music to make people happy.
11:28 And what I love about you is how creative you are.
11:32 And how much you already know and do at only five years old.
11:39 You are phenomenal.
11:43 You are wonderful.
11:45 Thank you.
11:45 You're welcome.
11:46 And I am a fan of yours.
11:48 I am a Van Van fan.
11:52 You're welcome.
11:53 How do you nurture and take care of that?
11:57 That is her.
11:59 Like, what do you guys do?
12:00 What do you...
12:01 Like, what do you do?
12:02 So I think that, you know, like my husband said, we are grounded.
12:07 So we are family of prayer.
12:09 We pray over her.
12:10 But also, like, for her, she likes to express herself.
12:13 And I feel like some parents, like, they may feel like, okay,
12:16 that's being, you know, like, too easy.
12:18 I think we have a nice medium there.
12:21 Like, we allow her to express herself.
12:23 But also, she knows, like, there's rules.
12:25 There's discipline.
12:26 That she's, you know, you have to, you got to know when to do this and when to do that.
12:31 And just, you know, but still let her have fun.
12:33 Like, she, I mean, I'm sure people can see on online and on any platform or any person
12:39 that she has fun.
12:40 She, you know, she has a good life.
12:42 She loves her life.
12:43 She loves her family.
12:44 She's family oriented.
12:46 And I just think that you just gotta allow them to be themselves.
12:51 Like she said in her previously, she said, you know, just be yourself.
12:55 And that's her.
12:56 - I love that advice.
12:56 - Yeah, that's her advice.
12:56 - Again, from a five-year-old.
12:58 - Yeah, that's her advice.
12:59 And that's what she does.
13:00 - One thing I love about Vanna is, like, when you ask her, you want me to call you Savannah
13:05 or Van Van?
13:06 Savannah.
13:06 Like, she knows what she does and what she loves to do.
13:12 But at the end of the day, I'm Savannah.
13:14 - Yes.
13:14 - You know, even at school, you know, the teachers be like, hey, I mean, when she first
13:18 talked, hey, what do you want to say?
13:20 Savannah, you know, and like, she loves that.
13:24 Even me, one day, and this is funny, just like this week, I made up, I was like, Van
13:28 Van, she's like, Daddy, why you call me that?
13:30 I'm like, baby, you right.
13:32 I meant Vanna.
13:32 She's like, Daddy, why did you call me that?
13:35 Like, but she knows who she is.
13:37 You know, she knows when I rap, I'm Van Van, but I'm Savannah at the end of the day.
13:42 - So here's what's so powerful about that, right?
13:44 Like, we have these famous names in Black culture, right, that are in entertainment
13:51 that we hear these stories all the time of they have an entertainment persona and then
13:57 they have their personal persona, but their entertainment persona overtakes.
14:01 - Right.
14:02 - And we're talking about grown adults.
14:03 - Mm-hmm.
14:03 - Yeah.
14:04 - So for a five-year-old to have that sense of how to compartmentalize is, like I said
14:11 before, is a foundation for what kind of phenomenal adult she's going to be if she knows that
14:18 now.
14:19 - Right.
14:19 - Does she deal with anything from other kids that isn't necessarily positive or negative?
14:26 How do other kids in her age group interact with her?
14:30 I heard about all 72 of the best friends.
14:31 - Hee-hee!
14:32 - But, which I put myself on that list, but how does the interaction with other five-year-olds
14:38 go?
14:38 - I'll go.
14:40 - Yeah.
14:40 - I'm gonna, she, so her school, only one kid knows she raps.
14:44 - Really?
14:45 - One.
14:46 And of course she, you know, she goes to a private school, but like her friends, they
14:51 love her.
14:52 You know, they want to always be up under her, be around her when she's around, but
14:57 you know, I don't know what extent, I don't know if it's because she's VanVan, but at
15:02 the end of the day, like people, kids just love being around her.
15:04 - What I loved about when we were interviewing her in the other location was as much as she
15:09 has this confidence and clarity, she would pick these times to like look for her dad.
15:13 - Yes!
15:13 - Or look at her mom and like either try to whisper or like you would just move and she'd
15:17 be like, what is he moving?
15:18 - Right.
15:19 - Or she'd be like...
15:19 - Exactly.
15:20 - Right?
15:21 And I love that because to your point, it reminds you she's five, right?
15:25 - Hee-hee, yeah.
15:26 - Like what five-year-old isn't always looking for their mom and dad, right?
15:29 - Exactly.
15:29 - And like I can imagine that when you have somebody who is that mature of a spirit,
15:34 you may sometimes forget she's five.
15:36 - You forget, you do.
15:37 - Right?
15:37 So I think part of what I love about what you guys are saying about how you parent her
15:40 is you let her be all the parts of her.
15:42 - Right.
15:43 - When she's...
15:43 'Cause I love it.
15:44 She was like, mom, what's the person's name?
15:46 Right?
15:46 And you just gave it to her, but then she goes over here and does a whole thing with
15:49 no interruption.
15:50 And I just loved watching her be five.
15:52 - Thank you.
15:53 - I thought it was wonderful.
15:54 And you guys are, you're creating...
15:57 And I meant what I said to her when I was talking about the magazine, whether she fully
16:00 understood it or not, it was really important to me to say it to her, that being in that
16:04 magazine will make somebody look at that magazine in a few years and say they want to be heard.
16:09 Right?
16:10 And I look forward to the world where more kids are like this at five because of what
16:16 they'll then do when they're 50.
16:18 Right?
16:18 'Cause we know 50-year-olds that are trying to repair the five-year-old themselves.
16:22 - But I just want to like be sitting right here and pose.
16:26 And I'll do the Batman shot and then get up.
16:29 - When you think about her in 10, 15 years, what do you see?
16:38 Handle your business, Daddy.
16:43 I know what you're doing.
16:45 - Yeah.
16:45 I don't know.
16:48 And we talked to XXL and XXL asked, it was like, can you imagine what she's going to
16:55 be like when she's 12?
16:56 I said, I don't know.
16:58 Right now, I'm just trying to raise her to where if I leave this earth, I want her to
17:02 be strong and be able to take care of herself, like at all costs.
17:07 Congratulations to you.
17:09 - Thank you.
17:09 - Because I can imagine that there's probably a duality to nurturing, but also still being
17:16 a parent, right?
17:18 And protecting and letting her have fun.
17:20 And so I look forward to seeing what her sister's going to do.
17:22 - Can I have a hug?
17:24 - Bye.
17:27 - Not my whole eye.
17:29 Okay.
17:31 It was nice to meet you, love.
17:33 - Nice to meet you.
17:34 - Have a good day.
17:35 - You too.
17:36 - Bye.