Manika

Possessing a soulful voice drawn toward high-energy club sounds and R&B-tinged pop, Manika first rose to attention as the final protégé of storied music executive Frank DiLeo. Born Manika Ward in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1993, she took up singing and piano in childhood before writing and staging her own material as a teenager. At 17, after earning multiple standout performance honors at the National Performing Arts Festival in New York City, she was discovered by DiLeo, whose career guidance had famously shaped Michael Jackson, Taylor Dayne, and others. During their partnership, which continued until DiLeo’s death from complications following heart surgery in 2011, she began laying down tracks and issued early singles such as “Boyz R Dumb” in 2009 and “Just Can't Let You Go,” featuring Lil' Twist, in 2011. Greater visibility arrived the next year when she toured with One Direction. In 2013 she delivered her debut full-length album, Manika (Double Album), containing the singles “My Way” and “Good Girls.” Two years afterward she offered the party anthem “Vegas Party,” a tribute to her hometown.