Singer, Toby Grey, is one of the young female entertainers working to establish themselves in the entertainment industry. However, in an interview , she maintained that women don’t always have it easy in the music industry. She said, “The Nigerian music industry is very much male dominated. Most investors find it more lucrative to invest in male artistes. That is mostly because women in the industry have to cater to a lot of things (essential and expensive) that contribute to the overall brand/artiste image and not many investors are willing to take that route. It could also be based on the risk of a long-term investment with little guarantee of return on investment which may or may not be unique to women.

“That being established, a female artiste would struggle a lot if she does not have strong finances, compared to a male artiste that would not incur any costs relating to feminine essentials that ‘have to meet’ societal standards.”

Grey also added that women are exposed to inappropriate demands from men. “Women in the industry are often exposed to unnecessary and inappropriate advances from the opposite sex in return for favours. Those are some of the challenges that women have to deal with on a much larger scale than men,” she said.

Asked why she has a knack for love songs, Grey answered, “Love songs are second nature to me. I find it easy to write love songs. I love ‘love’ and I have always been surrounded by people who have shared

sweet or sour stories about love. All those experiences, though similar, can be quite distinct, so I use my music to portray the different stories. One can interpret it like a work of art― same colours painted on different canvases in different styles.”

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