Somi joins Spotify’s Equal music programme

This programme is part of the streaming platform’s Equal Hub, which was launched in commemoration of International Women’s Day to extend the company’s global commitment in fostering gender equality in the music industry and supporting female creators.

The programme includes the Equal playlists, which reflect 35 markets in about 50 countries, and the Equal Global Playlist, which contains music from Equal artists around the world. Every month, Spotify announces the Equal Artists of the Month class in which Spotify features one artist from each participating market on the cover of their respective, local playlist. Ghanaian Afrobeats and Afro-fusion singer Gyakie was the first African creator selected for the initiative.

“I’m honoured to represent global female voices as part of Spotify’s Equal programme, especially as I gear up to release my new album that honours our first great lady of African song, ” Somi said. “Truly, the Equal initiative embodies the spirit of Miriam Makeba’s legacy and the generations of African women who have benefited from her journey.”

Spotify’s head of music for sub-Saharan Africa, Phiona Okumu, said: “Our aim with a programme such as Equal is to upend the inequalities that women face in the music industry by creating a space on the platform that allows us to solely amplify the work of female creators. Somi’s music is a celebration of Africa’s history and sound and of the legacy of a female artist whose impact through the arts was felt across the continent and the diaspora – the kind of impact we aim to continue to amplify through Equal.”

Milele will feature renditions of Mama Africa’s greatest hits including ‘Pata Pata’, which was released on 21 May as the first single off the album. The Grammy-nominated Somi has also written a modern jazz play about Makeba called Dreaming Zenzile, which will premiere in the US towards the end of the year.