Interview: Moliy on Upbringing, Motivations, Artistry & ‘Honey Doom’

Moliy is one of Ghana’s foremost rising artists who emerged on the scene in 2019. Since her debut, the Alte/Afrofusion singer has been on a consistent rise, scoring international success with Amaarae and Kali Uchis on the hit collaboration Sad Girlz Luv Money. To date, this track has amassed over 270 million streams. Since the success of Sad Girlz Luv Money, Moliy has been featured on Spotify’s Equal African Campaign and was also the only African artist to feature on Apple Music’s Freedom Songs 2022 with her original track The Place. In the wake of the release of her latest EP Honey Doom, we sit down and discuss her upbringing, music, motivations, and artistry. 

You are such an accomplished singer/songwriter but let’s go back to your childhood- where did you grow up and what were you like as a child?

People think I grew up in Orlando (Florida) because of my current biography but I didn’t. I was born in Ghana and raised here till high school. Then I wanted to go to College and I thought it would be great to go to America because I never lived there, so that’s when I started moving to Orlando in 2017, I think. I went to school there, but not for long. I mostly just lived there- I tried odd jobs, I went to school for a semester but then I came back to Ghana to actually work on music. As a child, I remember being quite jolly and friendly. My hair was always in pigtails. I feel like I was a smart kid when I was really young- that’s when I was really into school and was getting awesome grades. I feel like that was the only time I enjoyed school. In high school, I was more of an introvert- I had a fixed number of friends. I mostly hung out with my family or their friends, and I was really into listening to music, not creating it but, taking it in. At that point, there were no streaming sites, so I found new music on blogs and burned them onto CDs. I really enjoyed finding great music to just listen to. That was just me being an introvert! English became my favorite subject- I loved writing stories and I guess that made it easy for me to become a songwriter. 

So, who were you listening to growing up?

Legends like Micheal Jackson, Whitney Houston, Daddy Lumba- anything that was really current and on airplay. I don’t just appreciate the artists, but the songwriting too. I was listening to a lot of Soul, RnB- anything with good storytelling and a lot of emotions. I got into the Dancehall phase where I was listening to a lot of Vybz Kartel, Kranium, DeMarco, and I also listened to Tyga. Really, a lot of the artists that were popping in the 2010s like Ludacris and Pop singers like Nelly Furtado, and Gwen Stefani. I guess I draw inspiration from many, many artists. 

Your first single was released in 2019 but, one of the biggest – and definitely not your last- moments was you being featured on Amaarae’s Sad Girlz Luv Money that came out in 2020 which did amazingly well! How did that collaboration happen?

I feel like I had been in Amaarae’s DMs for some time because she was kind of popping in Ghana with a different sound. By then, Alte was this new exciting thing but she was the one doing it that I knew of in Ghana. I felt like it was something that I could definitely get into. When I would see her in public, I would say hi but I think she followed me at some point. She commented on one of my posts and was like “Yo, put me on the remix for this !” Obviously, it didn’t happen at that time, but at some point, she got into the idea of working with me after I released my Wondergirl EP in 2020.

I had already released my single, My Way. We made it happen – I think it was after this conversation, she sent me two beats which were for Feel Away and Sad Girlz (Luv Money), and they were both fire. Before I got to the studio, I already knew what I was going to do. When she arrived at the studio, I had already recorded Sad Girlz and she was feeling it! She hopped onto it! I was already excited because we had one in the bag. We started working on the other beat, and we just all kind of created Feel Away together as well. My sister came to the studio with me on that day and kind of helped on Feel Away as well. I honestly didn’t expect both records to make it to the album but they did. 

Sad Girlz Luv Money really did blow up! It blew up when the album came out, but I think people really took notice of it in 2021. We’re going to move on to talking about your EP Wondergirl which came out during the pandemic- how did that come about and why did you decide to only have one feature on there?

I made a leap of faith to just come to Ghana, record, and make something happen. At that point, I didn’t even have a team, so it was super ambitious to think I’m going to be able to come, drop a project, and do any kind of marketing. I had no clue what the plan was but I needed to do something. I didn’t even know I was making a project- I was just going to the studio consistently trying to create and make my ideas come to life. Then the whole pandemic happened and it hit me that I can’t really go to the studio anymore. I was feeling unproductive, and that makes me super uncomfortable. I have so much anxiety when I feel like nothing is moving, I felt like I needed to make something happen, and that was when I decided to drop an EP. Even if it doesn’t explode or become anything, it’s a stepping stone, and some way, somehow, the right people are going to hear it. Then, I got connected to my current manager. The producer that was working with me to make most of the records, made the introduction happen. I kind of feel like everything aligned in that moment. After that, I dropped the EP. I think I wanted to make it in June, but then things happened and it came out in August. It was really just loads of ambition and not wanting to be stuck in the same position. 

So you were featured on Boj’s latest album on the song In a Loop and you’ve also worked with Ogranya on the song Ecstasy, I want to talk about your new project called Honey Doom, what inspired the project?

I feel like I had the title in my head for a while, it sounded really cool. It was my way of saying bitter-sweet which shows that the more you grow, the more you have to face the harsh realities of life. I’ve just been understanding life in a different way, the more I’ve been growing. It’s a very honest kind of emotion that I invented. This is my now, I’m enjoying life but at the same time, the opposite emotion is lingering as well. I feel like everybody in some way, feels the same – it makes you human.

I’ve listened to it and I think it sounds amazing! I wanted to talk about the Moonchild Sanelly feature, Hard – why did you decide to feature her on this song?

I played the record for a couple of my people asking them who they thought would work on the song, but prior to me feeling like she’ll be the right fit based on the suggestions I got, I’ve been a fan! She’s amazing, she’s extremely versatile and her energy is so bubbly and exciting. Visually looking at us together and just hearing the vibe is always something that I thought would be great to do. A friend of a friend reached out to her team and made it happen. She was actually super positive about it- you don’t get that often, especially from label artists. She did it really quickly, she really didn’t waste time. I think I got it back in a week and, at that point, I knew it had to be on the next project. There was no point in keeping that behind closed doors. 

You’ve had a lot of success so far and you’re definitely going to have more success. What motivates you to continue to make music and to stay on this journey of being an artist?

I want to see my full potential come to life. I feel like giving up or not following through is usually what slows things down. I’ve seen people give up on their dreams and I’ve seen people’s dreams not come true just based on circumstance. Music was the first thing in my life that I felt like I could follow through with, or I felt like really stuck with me because I didn’t like school, I didn’t like to work- I never wanted to have a boss. I knew I had to be my own boss, and this is definitely something I’ve remained passionate about. It’s not dying down, it’s only building so, why would I quit?

Honey Doom is out now, what is next for you?

With Honey Doom, I’m going to places I’ve always wanted to go for the first time, Nigeria, the UK- I’m going to try and grow my fan base, so obviously I hope that works – I want to perform my music everywhere, keep growing as an artist and hopefully release my first album. I’ve had a lot of experience so far but, what I want more experience in is performing, doing shows, and traveling!