Social media’s honorary niece, VanVan has been blowing up across several platforms. The toddler’s “Playing Outside” freestyle video took users by storm and gave the young girl the boost to create a music video inspired by the viral clip. But now, some social media users are rallying to protect out of fear she may be working a too hard at only four years old.
Social Media’s Skepticism Of VanVan’s Growth
Since her freestyle went viral, VanVan’s father has been putting in a lot of effort to make her the next child prodigy. The young rapper has done a local press tour, released a music video, released several other freestyles and has now set up a Cameo account. In an interview with Complex, her father said he wants to set her up for success.
“I want to make sure I don’t miss anything for her because I want her to get every opportunity that she can and capitalize any way that she can as far as growing in the industry or growing as a child sensation,” he said to the outlet. “It’s funny, I was just talking to my wife, I’m like, ‘You ready for this if this takes off? It’s a lot.’”
Some social media users, however, worry Van Van is being exploited for her talents. The conversation around child stars and their work load is not a new one. Even before social media, the issue of how much a child should work and what say they have in that work was often contemplated. Through the years child stars have gone from happy and healthy to troubled due to a lack of care for the impact fame has on them. Social media, too, has had it’s share of child stars who have had situations turn from sweet to sour. One such example can be found in the McClure Twins. The girls were inadvertently pulled into drama surrounding a parent. In 2018, the patriarch of their family, Justin McClure, was at the center of controversy when some racist tweets he wrote resurfaced. In the midst of that scandal, the family revealed that Justin is not actually the biological father of the twins and that he met their mother a little over a year after they were born. Because of their fame online, the twins were referenced and mentioned in stories related to the Justin.
What The Future Holds
Some users who support VanVan’s growth say that her father is just her employee, and she tells him what she wants to do. In an Instagram post, her father even showed the process of her creative vision by recording a video of her explaining how she wanted her next video to be shot.
It may be too soon to see what her trajectory is but users say they are looking to protect her at all costs!