Abdulsalam Suliyat Modasola well known as Liya, is a Nigerian singer, and songwriter. She came into the music scene with the release of her first single under Davido Music Worldwide, titled "Melo", shortly after signing a record deal with the label in 2020. The accompanying music video for "Melo", was released on 8 December 2020, starring Davido, and directed by Dammy Twitch for DMW. She was formerly signed to Davido Music Worldwide from 2020 to early 2023. She began releasing songs independently in 2023.

Abdulsalam Suliyat Modasola was born in Lagos around Ketu in 1999 and raised between Ketu and Alapere, then relocated with her parents to Ikorodu in 2011, where she attended Arabic school for her secondary education. This was before gaining admission into the University of Ilorin in 2014, to study Yoruba Language, and bagging a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics. Speaking with Wale Oloworekende, she said "I go to church with my parents sometimes because they had a lot of Christian friends. There was a Cherubim and Seraphim church behind my house, so I grew up around a lot of music. There were music classes at the Arabic school too. Subconsciously, I picked a lot of melodies from there."

Liya described her music genre as Afro-Fusion, and tells OkayAfrica It consists of a variety of influences that just comes out beautifully", she said. She also revealed her stage name Liya, which was picked out of her middle name Suliyat. Liya cited Angélique Kidjo, Aṣa, and Shola Allyson, as her musical influence or inspiration while growing up.