This writer first noticed Ghanaian singer-songwriter, Mellissa, on Boj’s 2022 single, In A Loop, off the Gbagada Express album. The single also featured her sister MOLIY, who has since become Africa’s latest breakout artist, after last year’s Shake It To The Max (FLY). If nothing else held your attention on that song, her voice was bound to: a low-pitch falsetto bordering on siren-song. She’d go on to appear on a number of records by MOLIY, Ajebutter22, Blaqbonez, and Yarden, releasing a slew of singles within that time.
On Friday, May 1, 2026, the singer finally put out her first project, a seven-track EP titled Diamond Baby with three lead singles from last year: Tattoo (feat. Blaqbonez), Catch Me If You Can, and Goodboy (Kweku) (feat. MOLIY, rapper Joey B, and Nigerian artist-producer, Chopstix). It’s one of many projects lined up this May, earmarking the arrival of summer. Above all else, it’s a debut from an artist who has been in the game long enough and with such a distinct style as to consider their offering relevant to the Ghanaian music scene, and by extension, Afro-pop. But what does she deliver?
In typical one-listen fashion, there were no skips, rewinds, fast-forwards, or pauses. Certain reactions have been edited for appropriate language. All opinions expressed are those of the writer as parsed in real time.
Mellissa on a voicemail saying “I don’t know, it’s been a lot, so let’s just have fun” and Genio Bambino’s producer tag at the beginning of the intro record, In & Out, made for some excitement. Here, she sounds mellow and taut, as if primed for an explosive chorus. But that doesn’t arrive. Instead, it’s couched in reverb, thrumming piano keys, and disco-R&B loops. The arrangement works so well that you might miss Amaeya’s equally light vocals complimenting Mellissa’s falsetto. “Let’s show them how we do it in the Wild Wild West” is a well-served pun. This is the sort of song that soundtracks post-breakup tours around town.
Genie Baby queues up immediately after with Gqom-Afro-House drums. Slurred delivery to emphasise sensuality and a measured buildup to the melisma chorus (the spirit of Tempoe lives in all of us). She’s almost too direct on this song, calling for her genie and asking if it’s all for real. There’s some admirable measure of flair here too (enough to remind you why Afrobeats/Afro-pop’s heritage is dual-national) and towards the end, a back-and-forth bridge with featured artist, Michaël Brun, who likely produced the track.
Where synths reigned on Genie Baby, piano chords are the pillars of the next song, Show Me. You wouldn’t expect to navigate three different genres so early into an EP, but it appears the A&R here had other plans for us—not that we’re complaining. The brazenness of Mellissa’s demands for alcohol-fueled rendezvous and threats of unfamiliar feelings for her love interest are reminiscent of Ayra Starr on Control. Stonebwoy’s entry on the 2nd verse is underwhelming. He tries to make up for it by kicking the vocals up a notch, but it’s much too late.
Blaqbonez-assisted Tattoo is the only record here that isn’t a pure first listen. Still, it’s a pretty darned good record, what with the ambient saxophones and dancehall beat. It’s hot girl music—literally and figuratively. Mellissa’s cheeky innuendos (“Ink me steady” “My body’s stuck on you like a tattoo”) meet Blaqbonez’s puns (“Like Michael Jackson, I’m a thrill-her”) in a marriage of sexually-charged rhythms. On a side note, how did Ghana produce three songstresses—Amaarae being the third— with low-pitched sultry falsettos and a knack for the waist-whine all at once? They’ve mastered the act of making the mundane sound sensual.
On the fifth track, Goodboy (Kweku), Mellissa asks, “Will you settle down, be a good boy for me?” Over Pon Pon/Hip life hybrid production, she incorporates her best Ghanaian (Twi) accent while singing about her love interest obeying every whim. Harmonies here are a standout, as is the horn section on the somewhat lengthy chorus. Joey B takes his verse first, fresh as he always sounds. MOLIY takes over afterwards, her low, playful register differing from Mellissa’s more seductive vocalisations. Goodboy (Kweku) is barely adequate.
And then there were two.
On the penultimate stretch, Fight For You, R&B and Dancehall rear their heads, as Mellissa reassures her love interest about being a gem. There’s a rather beautiful double entendre involving diamonds and pressure that should be experienced individually. Spanish guitar strums, a slow chorus with reverberating ad-libs, horns, and a killer closing bassline make Fight For You a record suited for live performances.
What is Pan-Africanism if not an Accra babe singing about Olúwa? And what is black solidarity if not that same babe interpolating Kent Jones’ Don’t Mind (“She said, ‘Sak pasé?’ and I said, ‘N’ap boule’)? The final track, Catch Me If You Can, poses both questions in quick succession. Mellissa’s harmonies on the outro sound as you might assume a Caribbean siren in Homer’s Odyssey to be (She even talks about “needing to fly free like a bird with no ties.” ‘Bird’). If you have to end a flirtatious EP strongly, then it might as well be with a song like this.
Diamond Baby is finest when it plays to Mellissa’s strengths: songwriting and vocals. Her lyrics are elegant, yet so simple that you would be forgiven for thinking they are juvenile. On the contrary, she writes with Afro-pop arrangements in mind, staying on the chosen topic for all 7 tracks. There’s no arc in the sense of a chase or a happily ever after. What she offers are songs for specific moments: nights out with the girls (Genie Baby), breakups (In & Out), talking stages (Catch Me If You Can), and steamy romances (Goodboy (Kweku), Tattoo). Up there with the writing are her vocals, beaten to a shiny sheen. Even when paired with someone like Blaqbonez, whose auto-tuned texture is a sharp contrast, Mellissa holds her own.
However, these strengths are also the EP’s weaknesses. She sounds good, but not great. The songs are sexy and sweet, but not rapturous. You can’t say with certainty that a first-time listener would want to return for a third or fourth listhttps://open.spotify.com/album/0G9kMkpwJPvgSBHmiHTFdh?si=9IUqN1ggQPq3c8VNnG73tw en. And not because the project doesn’t tick production—it’s a mini genre-production dissertation—or some other factors. It’s because it sounds like equally well-made music from other gifted artists that one might appreciate, but not necessarily be inclined to return to with frequency.
Diamond Baby is safe risqué music, a no-no as a statement EP from an artist who’s been without a body of work all these years. Long-time fans will be pleased to have more music from the Ghanaian songstress. But this certainly is not all she’s capable of.
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