karrueche tran. she/her. cis woman. › spotted at the met steps , shamaya ngu , most likely listening to i am by baby tate with their airpods pro . the thirty year old gained quite a reputation , known to be -reticent yet +compassionate to anyone who knows them . you'll easily spot them when you hear about freshly manicured nails , designer sunglasses hiding lifeless eyes , the sound of stilettos against marble flooring , followed by n°5 parfum . latest nepoupdates article talks about pop sensation turned businesswoman in heated legal battle with record label , but i guess any reputation is good reputation . ( reece , 25 , they / them , est . )
B A S I C S
full name: shamaya ngu. nicknames: maya, yaya (close family and friends). gender: cis woman. pronouns: she/her. sexuality: pansexual. age: 30. date of birth: march 1st, 1993. zodiac sign: pisces. birthplace: los angeles, california. current location: manhattan, new york. residence: loft on the upper east side. occupation: former child actress, singer-songwriter, businesswoman. languages spoken: english, vietnamese, patois.
A P P E A R A N C E
faceclaim: karrueche tran. height: 5’1. eyes: brown. hair: naturally dark brown. piercings: standard earlobe piercings. tattoos: here & here.
P E R S O N A L I T Y
traits: (+) compassionate, honest, headstrong, loyal , business savvy. (-) reticent, stubborn, temperamental, workaholic , unforgiving. mental health: depression; medicated. physical health: very healthy physically. likes: weed, working on her business ventures, traveling, fashion, partying, thunderstorms, cosmetics. dislikes: being in the spotlight, being lied to, being told what to do, performing, the music business. fears: getting pulled back into the music industry. phobias: insects. hobbies: shopping, sketching ideas for new designs, coming up with new makeup looks, movie nights with friends, clubbing. skills: business savvy, singing, cooking. quirks: switching between spoken languages when very angry or upset, tapping her nails against any flat surface, humming when annoyed or irritated, hitting whoever's closest to her's arm or leg when laughing really hard.
F A V O R I T E S
ice cream flavour: neapolitan. time of the day / night: late night. weather: hot weather. colours: colors on the red spectrum. music: r&b, pop, hip-hop, rock, indie.
M I S C E L A N E O U S
a cherished item: the diamond necklace her father gifted her for her 13th birthday. first love ( celeb crush ): beyoncé, chad michael murray, keanu reeves. usual mood: neutral. character inspo: prue halliwell ( charmed ), bonnie bennett ( the vampire diaries ), sidney prescott ( scream franchise ).
B A C K G R O U N D
born and raised, for the most part, in los angeles, shamaya's rise to fame was destined from birth. with her mother being a pop/r&b sensation and her father being a well known producer, her life was pretty much set financially from the moment she entered the world. and while it was great that she would never have to worry about struggling like a majority of the world's population, the cons that were attached to her lifestyle tended to outweigh the pros.
like her mother who was forced into the industry at a young age, so was she. as much as she loves her mother, there's still a lingering air of resentment that maya has towards her because she feels as though she stole her childhood away from her. one would think that because her mother went through something similar that she wouldn't want her daughter to go through that, but they'd be wrong. from the time that shamaya could walk and talk, she's been working.
she had her first acting gig at the wide eyed age of four years old, and by the time she was ten years old, she had a hefty catalogue of work underneath her belt. movies, tv show appearances, and the main role of a kid's television show. and at the time, she absolutely loved it. she enjoyed working. it made her feel like a grownup, something that a lot of kids wished that they could experience. what she didn't notice while growing up was that she was missing out on a lot of fundamental childhood growth. going to school instead of being homeschooled by private tutors, making friends on the playground, etc. she never got to experience any of that.
looking back on it, the most fun memories from her childhood were the times she spent a few weeks of the summer seasons in jamaica with her mother's family or in vietnam with her father's family. when she could just be a normal child, playing and enjoying herself amongst relatives; especially her cousins around her age.
she was thirteen years old when she entered the music world. a girl group was her introduction to the music industry, a trio with two other girls who were both talented in their own respect. they were met with quite a lot of success, selling records and selling out tours by the time she was fifteen. at that point in her life, she had fallen in love with music, and didn't see the issue with her giving up her youth in return for all of her success. she was on the rise, and no one could stop her from reaching the top.
due to contractual conflicts and butting heads within the group itself, the trio disbanded by the time shamaya turned eighteen years old. and once their breakup was solidified, she immediately signed with a new label as a solo artist. in her excitement and naiveté, she recklessly signed a deal that ended up shooting her in the foot. a contract that locked her into a legal promise to provide the label with eight studio albums; something that seemed fair and doable to maya in her youthful ignorance. what she didn't realize was that it would soon become apparent that she shot herself in the foot with her decision.
booked and busy didn't even begin to describe maya's life from that point on. if she wasn't recording an album, she was promoting an album, or doing some form of work to keep her name at the forefront of the general public's mind. from 2011 to 2020, she released an album almost every year, resulting in having seven albums in less than a decade, a feat that very few artists can say that they've reached.
apart from being overworked, maya's former ways of being overly kind and accessible opened her up to being screwed over and taken advantage of many times, both professionally and personally. this treatment eventually led to the hardening of her heart, turning her from a wide eyed, bushy tailed, eager to please pop star, to a scorned, miserable songstress in the spotlight. she began hating the music industry for destroying her love of music. she never wanted to touch a mic again, whether or not she was contractually obligated to.
after releasing her seventh studio album in 2020, she began focusing on other prospects. her makeup line was the first of her business ventures, and quickly became a success due to its diverse and inclusive shades of foundations and concealers, gaining traction amongst the beauty industry and the public. not only was it high quality, but it was easily accessible to people from all walks of life. her next business venture involved a line of high in lingerie, another successful accomplishment underneath her belt. despite all the success she achieved as a businesswoman, the lingering knowledge in the back of her mind that she still owes her label another album terrifies her. she doesn’t want to go back to music, and she doubts she ever will. she’s been trying to hold off on that final album for three years now, and her label, and fans, are growing more and more impatient and irritated with her delays.