Rhita Nattah : First Moroccan Artist in Spotify’s EQUAL Program

Rabat – Spotify has named Moroccan artist Rhita Nattah Bennani the “EQUAL Africa” artist of the month, making her the first Moroccan artist to earn the title.

Spotify Africa announced the artist’s selection in a social media post on July 8th, as part of its “Spotify EQUAL” program to promote female artists and artists from Africa.

“Being selected by Spotify as their African Equal Artist means a lot to me as a self taught and independent singer, composer and songwriter,” Nattah told MWN. She added that “it gives me more courage and motivation, also more confidence, it also means that female artists are capable of everything even if this world tries to  underestimate their power.”

“I  would love to tell everyone to stay true to themselves, to make art with love and not for the hunger for fame or money,” she commented.

“Working with an artist like Rhita Nattah truly represents what EQUAL is all about,” said Phiona Okumu, who is responsible for the sub-Saharan music selection at Spotify. She added the program is “presenting a diverse selection of brilliant artists from all corners of the world!”

Rhita Nattah debuted in 2019, with her song ‘Not The Same’ and went on to work independently as well as working with producer Samir El Boussadi over the past couple of years.

In addition to citing traditional Moroccan music as an inspiration, she says that artists like Amy Winehouse and Queen Omega were inspirations for her to pursue this career path.

Rhita describes her music as “a new voice for traditional Moroccan music.”

“Rhita has always made clear the challenges she had to face to become a musician in a region where a robust music industry is almost non-existent,” Spotify said in a press release.

Spotify launched its EQUAL program earlier this year to help promote female artists. The program saw the creation of the EQUAL hub in the Spotify app, which serves to highlight songs from women artists and producers.

The program also provides hubs like EQUAL Africa, EQUAL Global, and other similar regional playlists to provide better reach to artists from all across the world.