The project arrives as MOLIY is riding the momentum of \u201cShake It To The Max (FLY),\u201d the TikTok-fueled breakout hit that turned into one of the biggest international dancehall moments of her career. The remix with Silent Addy, Shenseea and Skillibeng has surpassed 1 billion streams globally across all platforms, including over 405 million on Spotify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For MOLIY, the success of \u201cShake It To The Max\u201d felt like confirmation that her global breakthrough was not a one-time event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a moment of relief for me,\u201d she said. \u201cOne time maybe<\/em> a fluke, but two times baby, you\u2019re onto something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n MOLIY first reached international audiences in a 2020 collaboration on Amaarae\u2019s hit \u201cSad Girlz Luv Money,\u201d especially after the remix of the song with Kali Uchis went viral. But \u201cShake It To The Max\u201d placed her name and voice front and center. The song gained traction on TikTok through dance challenges and remixes, helping introduce MOLIY to a wider global audience and leading to a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the new mixtape, she said, \u201cI feel like I\u2019m creating a whole universe here of young, confident divas that are just bold and claiming their baddie energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moliy attends the Pamoja YouTube’s Celebration of African Music and Culture at The Preserve LA on January 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.Gonzalo Marroquin\/Getty Images for YouTube Music<\/p>\n\n\n\n That confidence did not come overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MOLIY, whose real name is Molly Ama Montgomery, grew up in Ghana, studied business and English in Orlando, Florida, for a semester before dropping out of college to pursue music. She loved storytelling, a foundation for her songwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Music remained in the background until life brought it to the forefront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been in love with music,\u201d MOLIY said. \u201cUntil life actually kicked my ass to the point where I had nothing and then all I had was music, and then now I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n MOLIY developed her affirming energy during a challenging Covid-19 lockdown, navigating her future in music while experiencing a painful breakup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was trying to figure out the music for real; it just felt like the hardest thing, but I knew I really wanted to do it,\u201d she said. \u201cI think I really grew spiritually at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That approach shapes how MOLIY connects online. Before creating the \u201cbaddie\u201d sphere, she aimed for consistent TikTok posts by showcasing daily Ghanaian life, such as affordable street food, using the hashtag #baddieonabudget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The phrase stuck. Then one lyric \u2014 \u201cYou dealin\u2019 with a baddie, of course\u201d \u2014 helped bring the concept into her music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her global approach is intentional. MOLIY said working with Tyla on the mixtape felt especially meaningful because of what it represents for young African women watching their rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo me, two baddies from Africa working together, I just feel like it\u2019s hugely dominating,\u201d she said, adding that she hopes young girls see them \u201ckilling it\u201d and understand that success in the creative industry is possible for them too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project also deepens MOLIY\u2019s connection to dancehall music, the Jamaican-born genre known for its bass-heavy rhythms and DJ-style vocals. MOLIY said the sound has been part of her life since childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moliy performs during the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture presented by Coca-Cola at Caesars Superdome on July 05, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.Aaron J. Thornton\/Getty Images North America\/Getty Images for ESSENCE<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGhana loves dancehall. Ghana loves reggae music,\u201d she said, describing a visit to Jamaica as a moment that felt like \u201ccousins reconnecting\u201d because of the similarities she saw in the people, food, culture and landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout the mixtape, MOLIY also leans into Afrobeats, the West African sound known for layered percussion and pop melodies, and amapiano \u2014 South Africa\u2019s log-drum-heavy house sound that has become a global club force. Together, the styles reflect her aim to make music that moves across borders without losing its roots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, with a billion-streaming global hit behind her, a new mixtape built for clubs and festivals, and an upcoming tour with Skillibeng, MOLIY says the goal is clear: to prove she is not limited to one song, one sound, or one lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The momentum is also taking MOLIY to new stages, including her first European tour this October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBaddies are going to be outside,\u201d the musician said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI make music that makes you feel good,\u201d she added. \u201cYou should be listening to me at parties. You should be listening to me at concerts, at festivals, at these huge, amazing places.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For \u201cShake It To The Max (FLY)\u201d singer MOLIY, being a \u201cbaddie\u201d is not about an outfit or a carefully curated image. \u201cBeing a baddie is a state of mind,\u201d she told CNN. \u201cIt is a confidence thing. It is an aura thing. It\u2019s not a body type. It\u2019s not a piece of clothing.\u201d That […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":52747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[1648,4899,1446,1581,4231,11882,5356,6986,8989,5919,2848,7995,9331,7462,5222,5200,3513,10552,11931,6121,7285,12297,5494,7712,9505,746,12011,5321,6496,6351,3577,192,4521,10954,2792,5205,10454,10560,3874,8235,3684,7123,9792,6220,12821,5612,8154,5058,12692,10927,434,7964,11973,6332,9028,428,6431,236,6838,244,8318,1664,11325,9030,7333,5355,5225,7592,12889,12605,8033,5320,5140,9550],"class_list":["post-52745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-africa","tag-african","tag-afrobeats","tag-afropop","tag-ama","tag-amaarae","tag-austin","tag-bees","tag-berlin","tag-breakup","tag-california","tag-caribbean","tag-city","tag-cola","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-culture","tag-dance","tag-dancehall","tag-dj","tag-dominican","tag-dominican-republic","tag-energy","tag-english","tag-european","tag-feel","tag-festival","tag-florida","tag-food","tag-french","tag-future","tag-ghana","tag-ghanaian","tag-international","tag-jamaica","tag-july","tag-killing","tag-la","tag-lead","tag-lockdown","tag-london","tag-los-angeles","tag-louisiana","tag-love","tag-moliy","tag-money","tag-moody","tag-music","tag-musician","tag-new-orleans","tag-nigeria","tag-north","tag-one","tag-online","tag-rap","tag-rapper","tag-release","tag-sarkodie","tag-singer","tag-south-africa","tag-spotify","tag-stephen","tag-street","tag-success","tag-summer","tag-texas","tag-theater","tag-tiktok","tag-tyla","tag-uk","tag-video","tag-women","tag-young","tag-youtube"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52745"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52748,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52745\/revisions\/52748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Moliy](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/gettyimages-2259419482.jpg?c=original&q=w_860,c_fill\")
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