UK SINGER, ACTRESS CYNTHIA ERIVO NODS MANANA’S ‘DECIDE’

MBABANE – United Kingdom-born singer and actress Cynthia Erivo chose Manana’s recently released single titled ‘Decide’ as the song of the summer.

Cynthia Erivo is an English actress and singer. She gained recognition for starring in the Broadway revival of The Colour Purple from 2015 to 2017, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Films

Erivo ventured into film in 2018, playing roles in the heist film ‘Widows’ and the thriller ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’. For her portrayal of American abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic ‘Harriet’ released in 2019, Erivo received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress; she also wrote and performed the song ‘Stand Up’ on its soundtrack, which garnered her a nomination in the Best Original Song category. On television, Erivo had her first role in the British series ‘Chewing Gum’ released in 2015.

She went on to star in the crime drama miniseries ‘The Outsider’ released in 2020, and received a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for her portrayal of American singer Aretha Franklin in National Geographic’s anthology series ‘Genius: Aretha’ released in 2021. The talented singer chose Manana’s song ‘Decide’ as the ‘Song of the Summer’ during a brief interview with Billboard. This was during this year’s third annual Gold Gala hosted at the Music Centre in Los Angeles last weekend.

Leaders

Worth mentioning, is the fact that Cynthia was also among the honourees at the third annual Gold Gala. The Gold Gala serves as an annual gathering of top Asian Pacific and multicultural leaders, convening more than 600 guests to celebrate the 2024 A100 list, which is the 100 most impactful Asian Pacific change makers in culture and society over the past year. During the brief interview with Billboard, she shared that Manana’s music is beautiful. “There is an artist called Manana and he just released a song called ‘Decide’ and that is beauty. His music is beautiful, so I think that I’m going to say that’s the song of the summer,” Erivo said.

Song

Manana’s song ‘Decide’ was released last year on December 14. It is available on YouTube where it is sitting on 11 625 views at the time of compiling this report. The song was provided to YouTube by TuneCore. Manana is a local Grammy award-winning songwriter and musician based in South Africa. The multi-talented RnB artist is proving that there are no rules to advocating for what you believe in, especially as an artist.  Whether behind the drum kit, piano or microphone, he is able to express what the heart needs to hear simply and honestly. Manana has a Jazz background and is part of the band Seba Kaapstad, alongside Zoë Modiga. When Nigeria’s Burna Boy’s album ‘Twice as Tall’ came out on top in the Best Global Music Album category at the 63rd Grammy Awards, little did Manana know that the win would be a life-changing moment for him. He walked away with a Grammy for his contribution to a song on the album titled ‘Time Flies’, featuring Sauti Sol. He also recently contributed to the songwriting process of Usher Raymond’s recently released single titled ‘Ruin’.

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