Meet Vayay of West Adams

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andres Valle.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Andres. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My stage name is spelled Vayay, which is pronounced exactly like my last name. I am 26 years of age. I live in West Adams now but grew up in the South LA neighborhood of Leimert Park then moved to the San Gabriel Valley suburb of Arcadia when I was 14 years old because my parents wanted me to get better schooling and stay out of trouble. I started off just simply writing poetry when I was ten years old before I had ever decided I even wanted to be a rapper or artist. Throughout my teenage years, I did theater and would showcase my poetry from time to time in the occasional talent show or local open mic, but early on, these were things that I simply viewed as hobbies. I didn’t decide to pursue music full time until I was about 20 years old.

At that time, I was two years in college at DePaul University in Chicago studying accounting. Ultimately, I decided to leave school to pursue my music career full time and returned to LA. When I returned, I initially had gone under the moniker Andre Sinatra and released one mixtape back in 2014. Shortly after that, I formed a live hip hop band called Ambiguous Culture with my brother Piano Blac and neighborhood friend Andrew Guerra. We released 2 EP’s together and gigged around town up until last year, 2018 when we decided to take a hiatus. This was partly, because I wanted to establish myself as a MC and solo artist some more but also because my brother Piano Blac wanted to expand his writing and musicianship through other genres as well.

After deciding to return to my solo career, I felt the need to change my name from Andre Sinatra since I hadn’t actually used it since 2014. I simply decided to go with my last name Valle but spell it as Vayay because I don’t want to use my family’s actual spelling for branding and trademarking. Under my new name, I got back to MC’ing and started by entering some local rap battles towards the end of last year. After that, I got back into doing performances of my original music at local shows and showcases. Which leads to where I’m at now, releasing and getting new music out! I just recently released my first single as a solo artist called “Gentrifination” this past April and have my video for the song set to release this month along with more songs and videos set to release soon as well

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not! I think the hardest part for me personally has been not letting the pressures of adulthood interrupt my drive and focus. When you are young, like 18-21, it’s easier to say you want to pursue art/music full time because you feel as if youth is on your side. Things like being broke and struggling feel a bit more accepting at that age. Every artist thinks every year is their year. But next thing you know, five to six years go by and you still haven’t even gone on a tour or cracked 5,000 views on a YouTube video.

At that point, time starts to feel as if it’s passing you by, especially when you see some of your peers the same age who are working more financially established careers then you. In many ways, this can make one feel insecure about their future outlook, to which some people reach even reach breaking a point and quit or perhaps go down a more sustainable route. And I say this because it happened to me early last year in 2018. I had almost succumb to these adulthood pressure’s of letting my 9 to 5-day job defeat me. Paying my rent and staggering overdue bills was sucking out all my time and money. So much to the point where I was unmotivated to write or go perform. I’d essentially just work then spend my off time chilling and lounging. But there was only so much time off I could take before my heart started aching to continue, which lead to my re-branding as a solo artist under a new name.

But in that time span, I’d almost forgotten that creating art was something I did because it makes me feel fulfilled and liberated. And because of that, I’ll always have in innate desire to keep creating regardless of outcome and results. This allows me to be vulnerable and receptive of criticism. In this journey, I’ve also learned that comparison is the biggest thief of joy. We are all on our own unique path in this journey we call life. The idea of being too young or too old, and not getting so worked up about what other people are doing is a mentality I had to abandon.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am Salvadoran MC/singer who does hip hop music. I just recently released my first single “Gentrifination” which is about the ever-so changing financial landscape of Los Angeles and what it feels like to be a rapper struggling to survive in it. It’s my first record as Vayay with the music video set to drop this month! What make’s me different? Well apart from the music, I’m Salvadoran American and there haven’t been ANY Salvadorans to emerge in hip hop let alone the Los Angeles scene! But honestly, it’s not only a music thing, Salvadorans have yet to really emerge in the United States in any type of prominent limelight. Although, this is partly due to the fact that most Salvi Americans are probably first generation since most of our parents migrated here in the 80’s.I truly feel that the Salvadoran story is one that is yet to be told, but I do feel we will be seeing more of it, as we too are apart of the LatinX generation.

Now speaking in terms of my sound? What makes me different? Well, I really do think I have unique vocal blend of rapping and singing. With a rock/reggae/funk range that hasn’t been applied to rap quite the way I’m doing it. I know I’m not the best singer in terms of range and intonation nor am I either the best rapper if we really go bar for bar, but over the years I’ve learned to apply both into something that works for me. At the end of the day Im happy to know that I’m coming with a sound that is true to who I am rather than trying copy so much of what is popular. Thankfully, people vibe with it. And it’s not just me vocally, my brother Piano Blac, who’s been my main producer for the past eight years, he adds his own unique blends of these elements as well.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I used to play a lot of sports, listen to music and read a lot of books. Interestingly enough, I didn’t do really any type of music or art until I got out of highschool, But the love for it was dormant and always there, and I would say it first started with music and literature having a profound effect on me at a very young age. I remember when my mom got my brother and I a CD player for Christmas that year. We both really shared that thing and took turns listening to some of our favorite CD’s from that era for hours! And then as technology progressed with time, we were there for the Napster/Limewire/Bit Torrenting eras as well. We were always downloading and listening. In school, English was my favorite subject and I loved reading at a young age. I always had a fascination with language and I can honestly say that you can attribute my love for rapping as something that stemmed from this. Things like accent, cadence, tone, diction, and syntax always fascinated me at a young age albeit me not knowing what those things actually were at the time.

Asides from that, I also grew up with a lot of diversity that I feel helped shaped who I am today as an artist and as a person. Being latino and Salvi American, of course, I had everything that came with that culture to influence me because it was handed down me. The pupusas, the cumbia, tamales you name it! But I was also a Salvi American growing up in Leimert Park, South LA! And at that time in the early 2000’s, we were one of few Hispanic families that lived in that region of the city. So growing up, I had my latino family and friends but I also had my black friends as well. I had people like my oldest brother who would influence me heavily with rock music from Soundgarden Nirvana, RHCP, Sublime and other 90’s bands but then I’d still be listening to the all the rap/hip hop that I was growing up with as well. I’m talking artists like Kanye West, 50 cent, Jay Z, Lupe Fiasco. The list goes on and on, especially if we name music from earlier time periods too. But this diversity has always carried over with me and it is part of the distinction I try to have with my voice. It sounds crazy, but guys like Anthony Kiedis and Brandon Boyd have had an influence on me just as much as Nipsey Hussle and Kanye!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vayayraps.com
• Email: andresinatra93@gmail.com

Image Credit:
IG: @redheartmedia

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