When Ghanaian songstress Amaarae released her debut album in 2020, there was no denying it was a solid breakout performance. And on that debut album was a song that was very much on high, taking a life of its spanning remixes with Kali Uchis and an Amapiano remix with Virgo Deep. In addition, SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY featured rising songstress Moliy.

Whilst that moment may have gained Moliy recognition across the waters, her debut EP WONDERGIRL, released in the same year, show Moliy as one to watch. It showed her singing abilities blending the sounds of her study experience in the US and her homegrown musical influences in Ghana. 

With the success of Sad Girls over the past year, Moliy lent her voice to several artists bringing her artistic flair to rapper M.anifest and his track No Fear with American rapper Vic Mena, as well as BOJ’s In A Loop, joined by her sister Mellissa. Fast forward to 2022, and Moliy continues her reign and shows herself as someone to watch.

Following her 3 track EP Mahogany St earlier this year, the release of her single Hard featuring South Africa’s Moonchild Sanelly was a preview of the vibes to expect on her latest EP Honey Doom. The title alone makes your interest peak, but other than that, Moliy herself is offering an elevation and fresh perspective following WONDERGIRL.

Speaking with Moliy over zoom, I caught up with her to discuss everything from the name of the EP, building the sound of the project, collaborating and what the project means to her. 

You recently released your latest EP, Honey Doom. So, first of all, how did you come up with the title?

The title came to me because it was a cool way to describe my feelings about life and many things. So it is this idea of something being bittersweet or like a relationship and the honeymoon stage of a relationship turning sour into doom. So yeah, I had it and wanted to create many ideas from it and use those emotions.

In 2020, you released your first EP, WONDERGIRL, and you had a song with Amaarae, which is what people may know you from. However, for people who may not be aware of who you are, how do you want the project to introduce you?

Well, as much as it holds its own, this project will still remind people of where I was on WONDERGIRL. But, this time, I’ve grown, and I’ve had many more experiences that opened my mind to how the world is or how the world can be. And I’m sharing those experiences being very frank and raw, as usual, because people tell me I tend to be that way in my songwriting. But, still, it’s way more mature now, not just vocally but also in the context of what I’m saying and my opinions. So, it’s just a new level of people getting an insight into who I am. 

What was the process of making this EP compared to WONDERGIRL?

So with WONDERGIRL, I had three different producers on it. I was working mainly with one of them in his studio, MikeMillzOn’Em. But this time, I worked with more producers exploring different sounds and collaborating. The last one has one feature, and this one has way more Moonchild Sanelly, my sister Mellissa, and P Prime, who was a new collaborator. So yeah, I was working with more people; this project had more collaborations. 

In terms of the sounds, how did you build on this from the last one? 

The last one was more, just recording records. It was me picking records that I’d recorded and putting them together, and then I ended up recording the last song, Wondergirl, which gave me the name of the EP and tied the whole project together to mean something. I wasn’t actively working on an EP, but at the end of it, I saw that it could be an EP. This one was way more intentional because I had a team working with me. We knew we wanted to put an EP together as something that’s going to take my name out there further than, you know, there was of effort and a lot of intention and, you know, blood, sweat and tears. All in the hopes of people seeing the versatility and quality of music I have to offer. And as much as it has, you know, Afrobeats, Afrofusion and R & B, it sounds different. It sounds a bit nostalgic. Like, I can hear heroes of mine and pinpoint their influence on it, and that’s what I was hoping for. There are many influences outside of just Afrobeats all over the EP.

How did growing up in Ghana and then moving to the US affect your music?

I was born and raised in Ghana until high school, and then I started travelling to the US to see what was out there. Even though the most of my musical influence were from the US, I was listening to them when I was growing up in Ghana. So by the time I was making music, I was around 19/20, and I think being in the US influenced me in a significant way because I feel like I am someone who can play around with different styles easily, whether that be Afro or R&B because I enjoyed so many types of music growing up. And not just in instrumentals but also through melodies through writing. Like I can write a song with Pidgin influences or with my local dialect influences. And then, I could also write just a pure English song.

What can you tell us about collaboration process on this project?

If I follow someone and the person follows me back, that’s the initial interaction if they’ve heard of me or want to work with me. However, if I’m working on a project like I would be reaching out. I would reach out to people I’ve already worked with, mostly MikeMillzOn’Em and Zodivc. Those are the first people to reach out to, and then I’ll reach out to potential artists I want to collaborate with. And most of the time, I don’t get the results. But then there is that 15% that do respond, and sometimes it only happens after you want it you want to happen. For this project, P.Prime was in Nigeria, and I think he came to Ghana, and he had someone or some friends around him, who were asking who was around to work with, and I think my name came up, and that’s how that one happened. So I met up with him, and he had a portable studio, so he had all his equipment and then we recorded the song Prisoner. And he was very cool. I don’t know if he is shy, but he seemed very quiet and respectful and just wanted to do the work. And then another one, I was following Juls, and Juls was following me, and I don’t remember how the conversation started. Then he started sending me beats. So he sent me a couple, and we’ve been trying to get a record together, but it was just snippets of the beat; it was just over a minute. And I wrote the song just to fit the number of beats. And he was like, wait, why didn’t you finish it, and so I tried. I went and doubled it, but I liked it, so I put it on the EP as an interlude.

How did the collaboration with Moonchild Sanelly on single Hard come about?

I had recorded the song Hard already. and it was just me. But then, at the same time, I wanted more collaborations for this project, and that seemed like a record that something cool could happen with. So then I was speaking to my management like, what can we do? I’ve tried asking a couple of people, you know, I’ve even tried asking a rapper from Ghana who was quite popular, and they were not taking the bait. So at this point, my manager reached out to a friend, and he’s pretty popular here in Ghana for having worked with many big names in the music. So he said he knew her team, so he reached out, and we got the verse back in a week. I would love to do a video, but I need to learn about schedules and if we’ll even be at the same place at the right time. So she came to Ghana for an appearance, and she was like, I’m here, like, let’s party, let’s go turn up. She’s so, so calm, like in person, super bubbly. And I saw her perform that night, and I was like really wowed because, like, it’s just so great to see another woman doing this; it gives me hope, it inspires me, and she’s been doing this for, like, a while, so yeah I’m very honoured I was able to do a song with her.  

What do you want this project to reveal about you to your fans?

I’m very opinionated about the kind of woman I am, the kind of man I want, and the kind of life stuff I like. And I know for sure I’m not the only one that feels this way. Not everyone will relate to it, but that’s the point. So I want those who I can connect with. And yes, I want all my music to be for the world. But at the same time, I want to find my people. So I’m aiming for young women everywhere to see if they can relate. And I feel like they have to because I can’t be the only one feeling this way. 

Honey Doom is out now, follow Moliy via @moliymusic

Interview Seneo Mwamba