Vanessa Mahi (born 17 December 1997), known professionally as Ivorian Doll, is a British rapper and Internet personality of Ivorian descent. She made her debut in collaboration with

Abigail Asante Abigail Burland, known professionally as Abigail Asante, is a British rapper, dancer, and internet personality. She initially gained prominence through dance videos she posted to Instagram. She made her music debut in collaboration with Ivorian ...

, releasing singles under the name Abigail x Ivorian Doll. She has since gone on to release several singles as a solo artist, such as "Rumours".

Early life

Mahi was born in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the ...

, Germany to parents from the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

and moved to East London when she was three years old with her father. Her mother initially stayed in Germany, later joining the family when Mahi was a teenager and her parents reunited. Her pseudonym refers to her Ivorian heritage. Mahi's father is a pastor. He took her to acting classes from the age of 11. She attended

Haggerston School Haggerston School (previously Haggerston Girls' School) is a 900-place school in Weymouth Terrace in Haggerston, London Borough of Hackney, England. It is a Community School and from September 2010 became a co-educational school with its own si ...

Career

Before starting her music career, Mahi was a YouTuber. Mahi describes herself as having gone into a rap career "accidentally". After making her musical debut collaborating with Abigail Asante, Mahi began releasing music as a solo performer in late 2019. Her debut single was "Queen of Drill". She released her breakout track, "Rumours", in April 2020. The music video for the track on YouTube reached a million views within a month. Mahi was nominated for Best Newcomer in the 2020 MOBO Awards. In December 2020, Birmingham rapper

Lady Leshurr Melesha Katrina O'Garro (born 15 December 1987), known professionally as Lady Leshurr (), is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. She is known for her ''Queen's Speech'' series of freestyles, the fourth of which became popular i ...

released a

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the ...

about Mahi, "DIV". Mahi was announced as part of the

Wireless Festival The Wireless Festival is a rap and urban music festival that takes place every year in London, England. It is owned and managed by Live Nation. While it started as primarily a rock and pop festival, in recent years it has focused on hip hop and ...

2021 lineup in April 2021. She also performed at Reading Festival 2021. In 2021, she collaborated with Birmingham's

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

on the track "Hammerhead" for their album '' Future Past'', released in October 2021.

Artistry

Mahi has described

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of he ...

and Foxy Brown as musical influences.

Discography

Singles

* 'Queen of Drill (QOD)' (2019) * 'Rumours' (2020) * 'Body Bag' (2020) * 'Clout' (2020) * 'Bow Down' (2021) * 'Boss' (2022) * 'Big Booty' (2022) * 'Messy' (2022)

References

External links

* 1997 births Living people Black British women rappers British Internet celebrities English people of Ivorian descent German emigrants to England German women rappers German Internet celebrities German people of Ivorian descent Rappers from London UK drill musicians {{hiphop-bio-stub