Moliy has been named a Spotify EQUAL Ambassador for June—joining a list of fierce African women making waves in music industry.
The program, which launched in April 2021, takes aim at the gender disparity in the music industry by amplifying the work of women creators. Through the campaign, the streamer aims to combat gender disparity in the music industry by amplifying and celebrating the work of women creators around the world.
The singer born Molly Ama Montgomery is deeply influenced by her rich Ghanaian heritage, as evidenced by her groundbreaking ‘WONDERGIRL’ EP released in 2020 and her feature on Amaarae’s hit single, ‘Sad Girlz Luve Money.’ She draws inspiration from her childhood in Accra and Orlando, Florida, where she was exposed to Afrobeats, Reggae, Soul, Jazz, and Hip-Hop.
In response to her selection for EQUAL Africa, Moliy says she’s always felt there was a huge disparity in levels of success between male and female artists, spanning larger paychecks and 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 adds.
“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 concludes.
Spotify’s EQUAL program aims to highlight powerful female voices making ground-breaking moves on the continent’s music scene. The music discovery platform seeks to demonstrate its commitment to fostering equity for women in audio and celebrating their global contributions.
“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,” says Spotify’s head of music for sub-Saharan Africa, Phiona Okumu.
“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 says.
