§ [singing scales] §
§ [vocal warm-ups] §

§ Peb lub xyoo dhau mus lawm ntsiag twb to
(Three years has gone by
in silence) §
§Lub siab mob los tsis pom koj rov los kho
(This heart aches not seeing you come back to mend it)§
§Wb sib tso sib ncaim mus dub
muag txig
(We broke up and parted in coldness)§
§Taug nyias txoj kev,
tsis tham, tsis tshuav dab tsi
(Taking our own paths, not speaking, there’s nothing left)§

- Maa Vue: Culture
is definitely history...
everything that is beautiful,
everything that we cherish,
that we want to keep going
and keep having
for future generations.
§ [singing] §
As I started growing up,
I noticed that
parents of this generation,
or even people my age
that have kids now,
they can't speak
the Hmong language anymore.
It's starting to disappear
bit by bit.
My name is Maa Vue.
I am a singer and songwriter.
I sing primarily in my language,
the Hmong language,
because that is
a part of my culture that I want
to continue having
for my children
and their children
in the future to come.
§ [singing] §
The most impactful time
that I ever had with music,
that started this journey,
was really
high school show choir.
There was this solo song called
"Respect" by Aretha Franklin.
But at that time, I was
really shy, didn't want to sing.
My voice was so quiet.
But then I was like,
"You know what, let me try.
Let me just try this song."
I belted it out.
Everybody was
just like, shocked.
They're like, "Wait a minute.
"Maa had this voice
this whole time,
and she never like used it
until now?"
So that's when I started
getting more confidence
in my voice, since then.
§ [singing] §
My music
that I create
is very easy-listening, contemporary.
When you think
about China, Japan,
like their music
fusing with mine,
Thailand, Laos, that style.
And then you add that, you know,
Americanness in it too,
and then that's the sound
that I'm trying to do.
It's all vocal.
This is my instrument
right here.
§ La §
§ La, la, la §
§ La, la, la, la §
§ La, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la §
When it comes
to my music compositions,
it really depends
on the mood that I'm feeling.
So, if I'm sad,
I will write a bomb sad song.
When you're into your feels,
you want that song
that you can relate to.
So how I do my process is that, I have to ask myself,
"Am I touched by it?
"Do I feel like
there's a connection?
Am I crying to it?"
You know?
And, "does it make me feel
like I want to change?"
So it starts from
first get the feelings right.
And then, from there,
I start trying to find music
that is close enough
to where I want it to go.
So I'll look up, like, demos,
or, like, instrumentals,
listen to other sounds
and see what they're doing
with these sort of feelings
to convey it.
And then after that,
I start building the melody
and the whole composition
comes together.
Then I go to my producers
and I say,
"Hey, here is a rough draft
of what I like,"
and, "How can we make something like this happen?"
And we go from there.
My parents have never
seen me perform.
I think with their,
you know, upbringing,
you know, being from Laos,
going through, you know, with
the Vietnam War and everything,
my dad was a CIA soldier.
All they've ever known
was just hardship.
And then coming to
United States, more hardship.
And, in our culture, or
in several cultures, you know,
like, women and daughters,
we are the ones that cook
and watch the kids
and, you know,
do all that stuff.
So they've brought me up
to be that type of person.
They knew that I was doing
show choir after school.
They say that, "You know,
it's a waste of time.
"You're not going to
get anywhere with it.
It's a dead-end."
And, I have to live up
to that expectation, um,
of being a, a good wife, right?
Future wife,
or a good daughter-in-law.
Other people did expect me to
go to college and, you know,
take music courses
and things like that,
but no, what happened was
right after I graduated,
I worked two,
two full-time jobs.
I started asking myself,
"How come nobody's asking me what I want to be?"
That's when
I found music again.
§ [singing] §
That is definitely
the connection
that brought me and my dad back, was the music,
which is crazy because
I've always been hiding
the music from them.
But there are certain things
that we need
to help our parents with
in order for them
to get their dreams out there,
which is the funny thing
about my dad.
He plays musical instruments
and he actually had cassette tapes of his xim xaus playing.
I feel like that's when
he's his most expressive.
Being a male,
I think in any culture,
like it's harder for you
to express yourself.
And knowing that that was
his form of communication,
of expressing his sadness, happiness,
or whatever he's going through, to me as a daughter,
I'm just like, "Wow.
Maybe this is how me and my dad, we can connect."

Music,
it's a universal language.
No matter if it's in
like Chinese, Japanese, or Thai,
whatever language
you're speaking in, like,
getting in touch with that,
then you can see
how other cultures
may, you know,
do their sound,
or how they relate
to these situations.
And it's important for us
to have that connection
because we're human
at the end of the day.
§ [singing] §