Moliy Predicts Dominance of African Music Scene by Female Artists

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Ghanaian singer-songwriter, Molly Ama Montgomery, professionally known as Moliy, has expressed optimism that female artists will dominate the African music scene in the nearest future.

The staunch advocate for female empowerment in the creative scene expressed this confidence after she was announced by Spotify as the EQUAL Africa ambassador for June, joining other notable artists that have been so honoured by the audio streaming platform.

Moliy, while commenting on the honour bestowed on her, said EQUAL provides a platform that inspires generations of women in Africa, expressing her gratitude to be considered for such.

The EQUAL programme by Spotify is geared towards shedding light on powerful female voices making groundbreaking moves on the continent’s music scene.

For Moliy she has always felt there was a huge disparity between the levels of success amongst male and female artists, ranging from bigger paychecks to bigger venues afforded to male artists over female artists.

“As if that’s not enough reason to uplift female artists, there’s always a reason to bring us down: from body shaming to constantly comparing and pitting us against each other. There’s also this theory that women ‘supposedly’ have a ticking time bomb hanging over our heads on when we can be successful and when our prime time is over,” she said.

“When people ask who are the biggest artists here, the first five names you hear are likely to be male. But this is what I live for, this is why I am here, there will be a day when the top five will be females and I’m going to be alive to see it. I’m going to be one of the greatest artists to ever come from Africa and inspire an entire generation of women,” she stated further.

The Head of Music at Spotify for sub-Saharan Africa, Ms Phiona Okumu, disclosed that, “The voices of women are still missing from popular music. Our goal with the EQUAL Music programme is to shine light on creative young African women who are finding their voice through music.”

“We are grateful for Moliy’s remarkable journey and experiences that have shaped the strong voice she has. We are also excited for her future in the music industry and are happy to welcome her to the EQUAL programme,” she added.

Moliy is deeply influenced by her rich Ghanaian heritage. She takes inspiration from her childhood spent between Accra and Orlando, Florida, where she was exposed to musical sounds like Afrobeats, Reggae, Soul, Jazz, and Hip-Hop.

She is known for her ground-breaking ‘Wonder Girl’ EP released in 2020 as well as for her feature on Amaarae’s hit single, Sad Girlz Luve Money.