Artist Spotlight: Moliy

Shot by @caseybrooks_

There is something about the marriage of afropop with other genres that resembles a breath of fresh air. Then enter Moliy: the alté and afrofusion singer reshaping the genre in her own likeness. With her distinctive high register, Moliy acts as our guide, navigating us through this otherworldly sonic expedition.

Last week, I got the opportunity to catch up with the Ghanian American songstress in anticipation for her latest EP: Honey Doom. The project features Moliy at her most open and vulnerable. She contributes her signature sugary-sweet songwriting and distinct tone to each of the tracks; from the high grade Prisoner to the slow gentle finesse of Human, each one of the eight songs is equally experimental and dazzling. 

In a few words, who is Moliy?

Moily is the wondergirl. Who faces her fears, creates music that's meant to heal and empower. She's also very family oriented, like very, and she loves food. 

In the final track you have a line which says, “I did it all for me and my family tree” that stuck out to me. How did both your upbringing and hometown influence you? 

I grew up around a lot of music. Not just by listening to music at home, but my mom also ran this bar slash restaurant in the area called The Gomeries. Our last name in a way. They played a lot of music. Morning till night you're gonna hear all the hits playing: Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Daddy Lumba. So I felt like I was exposed to a lot of music on a daily basis.

How and when did you discover your ability to make music?

I mean, for some reason I always had the delusional idea that I could do it. Well, me and my sister, because we were always singing together. I remember my mom got us a keyboard even though we didn't know how to play, we were doing covers, we were writing songs. None of that music is relevant now. But, I feel like it was all building up into this crazy idea, that one day: we could be stars.

When did it transition from ‘I'm just doing fun covers with my sister’ to ‘this is something I want to take seriously’?

So, I feel like that happened when I dropped out of college, I think I was maybe nineteen. I left the US and I came back to Ghana because things were just not working out in so many areas. I also had a boyfriend back here. I tried working, I went to this food blogger called Kenora. She runs the equivalent of Buzzfeed food in Ghana. I think I did one of the videos trying to create with my hand, but I was messy. So, I just stuck to giving them recipe ideas. I don't think I did that for very long, maybe two, three months and then I was out. I just feel like I've never done anything that I was super consistent with. Until in Ghana, when I was trying to create music. I had this spotlight in my head: you should do this all the way through, like nothing else makes sense right now.

If it wasn't music, would you see yourself ever doing anything else?

I see myself being an entrepreneur. I would probably run a food business. Make it a food empire, you know? 

You've mentioned you're a foodie, do you have a favourite dish to make? 

I love making pasta dishes. I just love pasta so much.

Then leading back to the project, which lane do you think your music sits in? 

I'd say I do a bit of Afro Fusion. You know, Afropop, Afrosoul, Dancehall. I don't want to say I do hip hop, but I’d say I like to vibe on hip-hop beats. I remember this period in high school, for a whole year I was obsessed with hip-hop music. They used to call me Gangsta Moily.

What’s the story behind the Honey Doom title? 

To me, it's like the way I see the world as of now. So Wondergirl, she was much more youthful and even though she was confident, she was still a little bit naive. Now my vision is clearer, I am understanding life a lot better and seeing how amazing it is. But there's also something behind the barrier of amazement that's haunting and dark. Where terrible things happen sometimes for no reason. So, there’s understanding that, balancing that, and empowering myself through it. As a Libra, I'm all about balance. So, it's almost my bittersweet diary.

How does the story of Honey Doom compare to the previous EP? 

I feel like this EP, I don't know if it has some vanity or overconfidence, because I'm really emboldened by my feelings towards relationships, life and what I want for myself. Just being so raw in like my selfish thoughts and putting it out there. I think Wondergirl was saying how I feel, but sugar-coated. 

What was the creative process like? 

Although I wanted to continue doing afrofusion, the sound people are accustomed to from Moily, I also wanted it to sound very versatile because my inspiration stemmed from different places all over the world. 

What did you find most difficult about the whole process of creating this EP?

Sometimes when you're collaborating with new producers, you're building a relationship. So it may not always be easy to finalise the pieces or get back your work on time. It's a new relationship and usually, if you have a good relationship with the producer, then you can get everything done on time.

I love so many of the beats on the EP. When choosing producers, do you prefer to have existing relationships, or discover new collaborators? 

No, I definitely went to my go-tos. MikeMillzOn’em, I've been working with him from the start. He had most of the records on Wondergirl and on this he has “Freak” and “Hard”. The first thing I do is go back to those relationships. I think the rest happened quite spontaneously. 

Tell me about the song Freak, it’s got quite a strong message.

It is intended to be me being a voice against domestic violence. It's very personal to me. I have people really close to me who have really endured it. I've had to see the pain and them feeling lost, not feeling like they can make it out of that relationship. And this is not even a case where it's like man and wife and kids and they’re trying so hard to stay together regardless. Younger couples are also stuck in this very, toxic space. I just want to have more conversations about it.

On the topic of storytelling, this has been some of your raw and most vulnerable to date. How does it feel to put that out there?

I was concerned because I didn't know how people were going to receive it or perceive me. Especially “Banana”, it’s a song about me wanting to date and be taken care of by a wealthy man. But I'm saying that because I know who I am and I know the road I'm going down. I know I'm going to be that boss. So, whoever my partner is must match that. But are people going to see it that way or are they just going to tag me as a gold digger? I'm just hoping it meets the right ears.

If you could simplify the message you want to get out there with this EP, in one sentence? 

It's definitely a message for women. Just be bold. Be confident, be fearless and just do what you want and what makes you happy and be unashamed about it as long as you are not causing harm. 

Looking into the future, what's on the horizon for you?

My nearest goal for me is to be a great performing artist, performing all over the world. I want to pull crowds, I want to put on amazing shows for people, so they walk away like ‘wow, that was, that was an amazing experience’.