Ghana: Amaarae joins Spotify’s Equal programme

Equal Africa is part of Spotify’s Equal Hub, which is designed to foster equity for women in music globally. Launched in April 2021, the hub has already featured a growing list of African artists including Gyakie, Somi, DBN Gogo and Soraia Ramos. The 28-year-old Amaarae was named Spotify’s Equal Africa Artist of the Month for January.

The announcement comes on the heels of the release of Amaarae’s single ‘Sad Girlz Luv Money Remix’ featuring Kali Uchis and Moliy. The song is off Amaarae’s debut LP The Angel You Don’t Know.

Amaarae will be featured on the cover of the streaming service’s Equal Africa playlist, giving her more visibility across the continent and the rest of the world. She will also feature on Spotify’s Times Square billboard in New York, with ‘Sad Girlz Luv Money’ leading the Equal Africa playlist and being added to the Equal Global playlist.

In November, Amaarae, an alumnus of Apple Music's Africa Rising programme, became the first Ghanaian artist to break into the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She has more than 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify at the moment.

Last year, Amaarae told Music In Africa that her new album epitomises today’s quintessential young African woman, her experiences and her approach to life.

“We’re liberated mentally, emotionally, sexually, financially,” she said. ”We are also telling our stories in a much more refined way with a global perspective. We are much more confident than our mothers and our grandmothers. We are much more empowered, and I think that’s what The Angel You Don’t Know communicates.”