Get To Know: Mana & the Lipstick Revolt
Fusing both Farsi and the English language, Mana has brought a completely new style and sound to the hip hop game. Music was always a huge part of Mana’s life and once she grew older she began to write poetry. Poetry was initially a tool Mana used to release her feelings, however once
her friends read her material, they suggested Mana put it to good use. Eventually, Mana turned her words into songs, which led to numerous features and the Lipstick Revolt album sponsored by House Studios, which included her and 10 other female musicians, R&B and hip hop artists.
Annually since 2010, Mana hosts the Lipstick Revolt event in Washington, D.C. and in 2014 she had the chance to host the event in both D.C. and New York. Fully staffed by female photographers, Emcees, vendors and performers, the Lipstick Revolt event proves that female artists continue to be on their grind just as much as their male counterparts. Mana saw women being oppressed all around the world and noticed that although it’s to different degrees, there is still the same struggle, universally. She wanted to create a platform for women of in all artistic fields and she succeeded.
Mana was born here in the U.S., spent her adolescent years in Iran and therefore has been exposed to many different genres of music worldwide. Although reggae is her favorite genre, she also is heavily influenced by house music, instrumental orchestras, reggaeton and of course, hip hop. Listening to artists such as Nas, Damien Marley, Rah Digga, Lauryn Hill, M.I.A. and countless other international and Iranian artists, it’s safe to say Mana has a wide range of styles to pull inspiration from. She hopes to inspire others on a global scale in the next 5 years by connecting the hip hop culture to others via travelling, spreading her movement around the world.
Mana has already performed with some of hip hop’s most influential artists such as KRS-One and Talib Kweli and also co-hosts the radio show at the University of Maryland, Mecca Hip Hop, alongside Michelle Amira. As an intricate part of the radio show, Mana got the opportunity to attend Howard’s Mecca Fest this past weekend and was able to get drops from artists such as Wale and Pusha T. She hopes to continue to use this platform to give exposure to many other talented artists.
While fitting in the occational article for SHE, Mana is currently finishing up her debut, solo project “The Secret of Mana”, to include 5 songs in Farsi and 5 in English which will display a level of diversity rarely seen before. To be sure Mana will keep performing while others are working to keep up, and we’re excited to see what she will do in the near future!
