Ayra Starr, known originally as Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe and born 14 June 2002) is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Ayra Starr achieved mainstream international recognition in 2022, with the release of her song “Rush”. The song charted in several territories, including Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 24. It earned Ayra Starr a nomination at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for Best African Music Performance.
In early 2021, Starr began her career with the release of her eponymous debut extended play and its lead single “Away”, which spent two consecutive weeks at number four on Nigeria’s TurnTable Top 50 chart; the song also peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Top Triller Global chart. It was followed by the release of her debut studio album, 19 & Dangerous (2021). Categorized mainly as Afropop and R&B, it received favorable critical reception and spawned two top forty hits in Nigeria. The lead single “Bloody Samaritan” peaked atop the Top 50 chart, becoming the first solo song by a female artist to reach the number-one position. In August the same year, Starr was ranked number three on Billboard’s Next Big Sound.
In 2024, Starr released her sophomore album, The Year I turned 21.
Ayra Starr was born in Cotonou, Benin and grew up there and in Lagos, Nigeria. She is a Nigerian and of Edo ethnicity (a tribe in Nigeria, West Africa). Her family moved frequently during her high school years because of her father’s business and as a result she had a hard time forming close friendships.
Having been raised in a music-loving family, her interest in singing comes mostly from her family. At the age of 10, she sang in a high school choir and began writing songs with her brother. She attended Les Cours Sonou University and received a Bachelors’ Degree in International relations and Political Science. During her college years, she was often bullied by her classmates because of her age and appearance. To counter the feelings, she experienced from being taunted, Starr turned to music. “I would listen to Nicki Minaj on my way to school and I’d feel like the second Nicki Minaj.” Ayra Starr’s mother was very supportive of her musical ambitions and always encouraged her to pursue a singing career.
In August 2018, Starr was signed with Quove Models, a modelling agency based in Lagos. From there, she modelled for companies such as Mazelle Studio, Complete Fashion Magazine and Esperanza Woman. In 2019, she began posting covers of songs by artists like Andra Day and 2face Idibia online. She chose her stage name because in her words, “it means woke and eye-opening and that’s what I stand for”. She appeared in the music video for Eri Ife’s song “Dear Future Wife”. In December 2019, she uploaded an original song called “Damage” on her Instagram page. This was heard by thousands of people including label executive Don Jazzy and led to her first recording contract with Mavin Records.
In 2020, she started recording at Mavin Studios in Lagos with producers Louddaaa and Don Jazzy.
Her self-titled debut was released on 22 January 2021 through Mavin Records. The album has been described as “a topsy-turvy chronicle of love or love-themed situations” and “merges elements of R&B/Neo-Soul with Afro-pop percussion.” Ayra Starr said her intention with the record was to make music that would resonate with both young and old listeners. The mixing and mastering of the EP was by Ikon, Louddaaa and Johnny Drille. Starr wrote one of the songs on the EP alone and co-wrote the remaining four with her brother Dami. Shortly after its release, the EP became the number-one album on Nigeria iTunes and Apple Music. As of March 2021, it has reached the same position on Apple Music in 4 other countries, racking up over 15 million streams across Spotify, YouTube and Audio Mack. The project spawned the hit track “Away” which peaked at number four on Nigeria’s TurnTable Top 50 and number 17 on US Billboard Top Triller Global. Its accompanying music video also debuted on MTV Base’s Official Naija Top 10. “OkayAfrica” included the song in their list of The 9 Best Nigerian Songs of January 2021. Ayra Starr released remix versions of “Ija” and “Away” featuring tokimonsta and Lilo respectively between March and April. Around the same time, Crayon’s EP Twelve A.M was released with her vocals on the track “In Sync.” She performed at the “UC Berkeley” Nigerian Students Association virtual culture show titled The Olori Awards. In April 2021, the official music video for her song “DITR” was released on YouTube via Mavin. In June 2021, the music video for another song titled “Sare”, was released. Both music videos were directed by Afolabi Olalekan.
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