Hey Everyone,

I was fortunate enough to sit down and talk to the folks at seventeen magazine recently.

At the sweet age of 16, fresh-faced artist Manika is already a singer, author and actress who is ready to rule the pop scene. (Shouldn’t be too difficult, considering she already caught the eyes [and ears] of Frank DiLeo, the manager of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.) With a hot new single, an upcoming television show and a yet-to-be-titled debut album on the way, this young talent may be the next big thing! CosmoGirl sat down with her to talk music, inspiration, and what’s up next.  Click HERE to read the whole interview.

Two things I learned when I was shopping this weekend.

1) Shiny pink objects are distracting.

2) People will stare at people (like me) who constantly sing aloud to the music playing in the store.

But then again, I’ve known this for years!

I just wanted to say thanks to the folks at Twist Magazine.  I dropped by their offices on my last trip to New York – it was great to meet you all!

Last week, rising pop singer Manika stopped by the TWIST office and gave us a special performance of her single, “Just Can’t Let You Go.” Check it out in the video above and then eavesdrop on our exclusive Q&A with her. Speak up in the comments and let us know what you think!

Click HERE to read the whole Q&A!

Hey everyone, here is the new Manika Website!  I hope to see you all soon!

Shooting my music video was so much fun! The legendary Travis Payne directed the video. It was shot in two different locations—Venice Beach in California and a recording studio in New York City. The Venice Beach shoot was long. I got up at 3:30a.m., drove to Venice Beach to get my hair/make-up/wardrobe done and then went all day until about 8:00p.m. The weather was crazy. For most of the day it was extremely hot outside. But then for the last scene we shot (the scene where I am performing on stage) it was like a hurricane outside. The wind was insane and it was absolutely freezing cold! The wind was blowing my hair all over the place…I felt like a giant hair monster. Every time they would yell “cut”, everyone would go huddle up together and wrap themselves in blankets. And then on “action” we would ditch the blankets, go out there in our summer shorts and pretend like we weren’t freezing out butts off. It’s funny how it can be freezing cold out, but look like it’s a hot summer day on camera.

The second location shoot was a recording studio in New York City with Lil Twist. We had a blast! He’s such a fun guy. My producer Tearce was also in it. I even gave a go at the rap a few times.

OMG! So the other day we were casting for my love interest for my music video “Just Can’t Let You Go”. All day I had to meet a bunch of hot guys and watch them play basketball with their shirts off. And then we had to flirt with each other for the camera. Wow, that was real tough! Good thing I’m a good actress. 🙂 LOL

Manika is no longer on tiny chat 🙁