You must love Manja the moment you meet her because she’s easy-going, relaxed, smart, and of course, very pretty. Manja is not your typical up-and-coming shooting star. She keeps a low profile and she knows exactly what she’s talking about.
It was in the late nineties, when the Leipzig native started performing as a then hip hop artist. More than six years ago, she also took up dee-jaying under the moniker Djane Firegyal playing mainly reggae selections.
The Freundeskreis single “Tabula Rasa“ aroused her interest in reggae. “I could rap the whole song, until Gentleman’s hook line began, because I didn’t understand Patois then. Then I heard Lady Saw on a Funkmaster Flex record and I had to know who it was. That’s how it all started.” It has always been clear to her that she would sing in German. “When a German artist sings in English to a German audience, it’s easy to turn a deaf ear. I know that a lot of people think it’s perfectly alright not to listen to the lyrics, but I think you shouldn’t do that. I want to be heard and understood, by everybody, including my own mother. German is the language in which I can express my feelings best, so why not use it?”
Manja met Andreas Wendland, her present-day producer and guitarist with the Far East Band, some years ago at a reggae concert. Andreas and the bass player of the Far East band had made some riddims and they were looking for someone to sing over them. In summer 2006, Manja and Andreas became neighbours in Leipzig’s Südvorstadt. “The studio and my flat are on the same floor. That’s really convenient because now I can shuffle over to the studio in my slippers whenever I feel the urge to.”
What Manja has to say about her music is this: “I know it sounds naïve and some of my friends will probably throw their hands up in dismay, but I want to reach people and spread a message. It’s all about world-peace and love. Yes, I’m one of those who still think that they can change the world, you just have to start.” Reggae is her form of expression. “Take Bob Marley, he always spread this sunshine feeling and still, there was space for serious issues. I know, most reggae fans prefer not to worry about politics too much. I’ve heard it often enough `Reggae, that’s good. Let’s just lay back and smoke weed.` That is so wrong.” That’s probably one reason why Manja’s record also includes demure songs like “Dankbar”. “My album is not a non-stop party record, that’s not what I wanted. Though I like to party, don’t worry.”
All of Manja’s songs have an immanent pop appeal, just take the ballad “Es ist die Liebe“, Manja’s Bundesvision Songcontest 2007 entry for her native Saxony. Another personal highlight on her upcoming album is a reggae cover version of Keimzeit’s “Kling Klang”, the song being a dear childhood memory.
MANJA - DATES
MANJA
Currently not on tour
MANJA - PHOTOS
Great song, great guy:
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