At 17, Liamani has already spent more than a decade doing something most people don’t experience until adulthood: growing up while other people are watching.
The Racine, Wisconsin-born singer, songwriter and actress began performing publicly at five. Since then, a childhood love of singing has developed into a career that includes a deal with Def Jam Recordings, roles within the Disney universe and recognition from artists she once studied as a young vocalist. But behind those milestones is a teenager still figuring out friendship, heartbreak, ambition, identity and what kind of person she wants to become.
That tension sits at the center of her music.
Her 2025 debut EP, Dear Little Me, transformed thoughts from her personal journals into songs, effectively opening conversations that had once existed only between Liamani and herself. For someone who admits she has historically bottled up her emotions, allowing strangers into that space required a different understanding of vulnerability.
“It is always a little nerve-wracking when I am in the studio with songwriters and producers that I’ve never met and I have to tell them exactly what I’m feeling,” she explains. But the possibility that someone might recognize themselves in those feelings makes the exposure worthwhile. “Maybe they don’t have someone to talk to or maybe they don’t know how to describe what they are feeling and I am able to help with that.”
That instinct—to turn personal experience into something another person can inhabit—is becoming increasingly central to Liamani’s identity as a songwriter.
It also means allowing herself to grow publicly without pretending to have already figured everything out.
Liamani has lived with an audience since childhood, and she is candid about the pressure that can create. When thousands of people are observing your choices, she says, making the ordinary mistakes associated with growing up can suddenly feel much less ordinary.
“Sometimes I feel like I have no room to mess up and make mistakes,” she says. Her response has been to stay close to the people who know her outside of the career. “I’m human and it’s ok to make mistakes. I have to tell myself there will be many mistakes that I make and that’s how I will grow as a person!”
That growth is now becoming the subject of the music itself. With “Things I’ve Learned” opening her next chapter and a new album on the way, Liamani isn’t attempting to manufacture an older or more polished version of herself. She wants the audience that discovered her as a child to grow alongside her.
“I have always loved the idea of allowing my fans to grow up with me,” she says.
We spoke with Liamani about turning journals into songs, growing up in public, finding her own voice, her Latin heritage, what acting has taught her about storytelling and the dreams she hopes her 27-year-old self will one day be able to look back on.
Dear Little Me transforms entries from your personal journals into songs. What was it like taking thoughts that were originally meant only for yourself and deciding they were ready to belong to other people?
It is always a little nerve-wracking when I am in the studio with songwriters and producers that I’ve never met and I have to tell them exactly what I’m feeling. It’s a scary feeling, especially because I have always been the kind of person to bottle up feelings.
But thinking that somebody might be going through the same exact thing I am and possibly being able to help them through it is so comforting to me. Maybe they don’t have someone to talk to or maybe they don’t know how to describe what they are feeling and I am able to help with that.
Also, just thinking back to all the songs I’ve written, I have a song that says if nobody told you lately, I love you and I’m here to tell you that you are loved. Some people might not have a strong support system and everyone should have a safe person.
The title Dear Little Me suggests a conversation between who you are now and younger versions of yourself. When you look back at the girl who first started singing, what do you understand about her now that she couldn’t possibly have understood then?
I have grown so much over the years and truly have learned so much about myself. In a way I feel like a whole different person, but not. I will always be that carefree and silly little girl that loves to sing her heart out deep down in me, but as I’ve grown and been through some stuff I have learned that not everyone will celebrate you like you will celebrate them.
I always want to see the good in people and give them the benefit of the doubt and think they will be a good friend like you are to them.
I’ve just matured, and learned so much about the things I like, the people I love, friendships and so many more life lessons that have shaped me into the person I am today.
I think little Lia was such a hard worker, and I was exposed to the industry at such a very young age and had to learn how to grow up a bit faster than most. My professionalism was taught to me early on but I didn’t realize it in the moment. I was just doing what I loved most, singing, and slowly but surely turning it into my entire career. It never felt like a job to me, which was so good. The relationships my family and I made are lifelong.
You’re only 17, but you’ve already experienced moments that many artists spend years working toward—from signing with Def Jam to acting with Disney and receiving recognition from artists like Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber. How do you protect the part of yourself that is still simply a teenager figuring things out?
It gets very difficult at times. I have so many eyes on me in every aspect of my life. And it has been this way since I was about 6 years old.
When the world is constantly watching your every move, sometimes I feel like I have no room to mess up and make mistakes. Feels like people tend to be very judgy and misunderstanding and almost praying for your downfall, which is so sad. That’s what really bothers me. People are constantly comparing you to someone else.
But what I have learned so early on and what my parents have instilled in me is to never run another person’s race. Everyone has their journey that God has chosen specially for them.
But in order for it not to completely consume me I surround myself with the best people who want what’s best for me and have my best interest. They love me for who I am, and I never have to be someone I’m not in front of them.
I’m human and it’s ok to make mistakes. I have to tell myself there will be many mistakes that I make and that’s how I will grow as a person!
You taught yourself to sing through YouTube and developed your voice largely by studying contemporary pop songs. Do you remember the moment when you stopped trying to master other people’s voices and began recognizing what was distinctive about your own?
Growing up I always looked up to Mariah Carey, Jessie J, Tori Kelly, Kelly Clarkson, Lauryn Hill, Ariana Grande, but my all-time fav was always Whitney Houston.
I think I really found my voice at the age of 14. I was in the studio a lot and was recording almost every day and the more and more studio days, the more I really found my tone and voice that I felt confident in and loved.
Your Mexican, Puerto Rican and Salvadorian heritage means you grew up surrounded by several different cultural identities. How has that background shaped your understanding of music and storytelling, even when those influences aren’t necessarily explicit in the songs?
I absolutely love being Latin. It’s one of my greatest honors. The food is chef’s kiss—don’t even get me started on pupusas, it’s my favorite Salvadoran dish!
The dedication and love that the Latino community has for the artists they love is super inspiring for me to see and feel! I always have a Latin sound in my songs, whether it be a drum or trumpet. It can be super quiet or really heard.
I did release “Beso del Sol” in 2024 and I definitely want to release more Spanish music in the future!
Growing up in a Spanish household there was always Merengue and Salsa playing on a Saturday morning while we were all woken up to clean the house and let’s talk about the parties—most epic parties ever!
You’ve been performing publicly since you were five years old. Do you think growing up with an audience changes the process of discovering who you are, particularly when other people have already developed ideas about who they expect you to become?
I have been performing in front of thousands of people since I was very young. But I can honestly say, it really depends on who you have around you during those formative years.
My family and team have always been really strong and have involved me in every decision when it comes to my personal life and career. My parents made it a priority for me to have a beautiful childhood! Because of that, I was able to really learn who I want to be and what I will and won’t tolerate in my life.
One thing I’ve learned is that people outside of my immediate circle sometimes have an idea of who they think I should be. For example, I’ll walk into a studio and the writers will be totally blown away by my ideas and concepts, or even the type of music I listen to. Then, as I start sharing pieces of my life, they really get to know me.
I actually love that I can surprise people. By the time we’re done with a session, they walk away with a better understanding of who I am and what I stand for. It’s an amazing feeling.
Your music is described as carrying both sorrow and triumph, sometimes within the same performance. Are you naturally drawn to emotional contradictions—the idea that something can be painful and beautiful, vulnerable and powerful, at the same time?
Yes, growing up I always listened to music like this. It’s what inspired me most in my early days of learning how to sing and write songs.
I have always been an emotional person. My parents always taught me that emotion is key. You can have a good song with great lyrics, but if the emotion is not there the song doesn’t matter. People love to feel with you.
There is sometimes beauty in pain, sometimes rainbows and tears.
Acting has become another major part of your creative life through High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Camp Rock 3 and Descendants: Wicked Wonderland. Has inhabiting fictional characters taught you anything about how to tell your own story more honestly through songwriting?
Sage and Pink are both obviously fictional characters but they can 100% be brought to the real world when you are talking about the situations and feelings they are experiencing in the movies.
For example, Princess Pink lives in a total fantasy land but was dealing with being the little sister and not being included and, in her words, she felt like she wasn’t seen or taken serious. I know as a little sister I felt like this sometimes growing up.
Playing Sage is something I will forever be grateful for and cherish. Her character was grounded and real. She was so goal-driven that she quickly learned that it’s not all about that and although goals are so important it’s not everything. You should take time to enjoy your life and enjoy the moments that get you to your goal.
I can completely relate to that because I get caught up sometimes and have to slow down and enjoy the ups and downs in life.
I think every role I step into I will always ask myself how it can relate to my real life. It gives the role a life and becomes somewhat of a reality. This is what makes you a good actor when you can really relate to what you are reading off a script.
There can be enormous pressure around young artists to grow up quickly, particularly within pop culture. As your career expands, how important is it for you to let your music evolve naturally rather than trying to sound or appear older than you actually are?
I have always loved the idea of allowing my fans to grow up with me.
I always want to be the person that little kids grow into their teenage years with and then adults can relate to and look up to and respect. I want kids and their parents listening to my music together and obviously they are in different phases of their lives, but it can touch each person the way it’s supposed to.
I want my fans to listen to my music and get what they want out of it. Each song might have a totally different meaning to each person and that’s okay.
Dear Little Me allowed you to speak to the younger Liamani through music. If you made another record built around the same idea ten years from now, what do you hope your 27-year-old self would be able to say to the Liamani you are today?
“Look at everything you have done little Lili. You found love, traveled the world, won a Grammy, you went on your very own worldwide tour, sold out MSG, and are in some really great movies!
“You have reached some of your goals that you made when you were 10 years old. The world and people do what they do—you continued to stay humble, worked so hard, and never changed your heart. You never tried to be someone you are not and you always kept God first.
“Things you experienced and thought you would never get over… a heartbreak… a loss… or whatever the case might be, you survived and became stronger because of it.
“I’m so proud of you! So the big question is what do we want to do with the next 10 years of our lives? Let’s dream some even bigger dreams!”
With your new song “Things I’ve Learned” introducing the next chapter and a new album on the way, what does this song reveal about where you are now—both personally and artistically—and how does it set the tone for the larger body of work?
“Things I’ve Learned” is the perfect song for where I am in my life right now. I’ve learned so much about myself and about life in general, and I feel like I’m growing and figuring out who I am every day.
It honestly feels like just yesterday I was a little girl singing covers in my bathroom, dreaming that one day I’d be part of Disney and have a crowd singing my own songs back to me. I can’t believe it’s actually happening now!
But I’ve also learned that behind all the glitz and glamour, there’s a lot of hard work, tears, battles—and a LOT of lip gloss bought along the way!
It’s been such a journey already, and I’m really grateful that through this song and the new music, people are going to get to see more of who I am and what it’s taken to get to this point.
I think “Things I’ve Learned” is the perfect beginning to this next chapter because it’s about everything I’ve experienced so far, but also who I’m becoming.
