Manizha’s style of art-pop mixes banging beats with social commentary and an uncompromising DIY ethos.
The Tajikistan-born artist not only writes her own music and lyrics, she also films, directs and edits her videos, creates her own visual content and commands her own collaborations. The commitment to creating her own art began when she started producing short films for instagram, and has led to sold out concerts in Moscow and St Petersburg.
As well as blending different languages (including her mother tongue, Tajik) in her songs, Manizha bakes in strong social messaging about self love and body positivity; women’s and children’s rights; as well as national, cultural and sexual identity; and above all else, tolerance.
In 2020, the singer was awarded a prize at the Berlin Music Video Awards for Nedoslavyanka . The song explores the challenges faced by immigrants - a subject Manizha is well versed in, as her family fled to Russia, to avoid the Civil War in Tajikistan.
Manizha is a UN Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and actively participates in many of the projects and activities the program runs in Russia.