Welcome to our Artist Focus ladies and gentlemen! This week, we’ll be focusing on the new Starr in town Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe known to most of us as Ayra Starr. We focus our lens on Don Jazzy’s new gem from her days uploading videos on her Instagram page to her debut album 19 & Dangerous.
The 19-year-old was born on the 14th of June 2002 in Benin Republic and spent her childhood between Cotonou and Lagos. She changed schools frequently due to her father who was an international businessman but her self-assured energy was consistent. While in secondary school, she was the choir prefect and wrote songs with her brother Dami.
She would listen to Nicki Minaj frequently on her way to school, living out her songs as she walked. “Roman’s Revenge” and “Moment 4 life” especially. She listened to a lot of 2face, Wizkid, Wande Coal, and Lijadu sisters growing up. On her song “Sare” from her debut EP, she samples “Orere Elejigbo” by the Lijadu Sisters.
About her unique stage name, she says “It’s an Arabic name that means somebody that is highly respected. It means woke and eye-opening and that’s what I stand for. My music is very eye-opening.”
She cites her mother as a major influence on her career and choices. Unlike most parents that would try to dissuade their children from going into the arts, her mother encouraged her to follow her passion for singing. Arya has always been the youngest in her classes and that invited the bullies. Her resilience against bullies and manipulation is a major theme of her songs.
Ayra wrote her WAEC when she was in year 11 (SS2) and when she passed, her mother encouraged her to go to the university straight away. At 14, she attended Les Cours Sonou University Institute where she studied International Relations and Political Science.
In August 2018, Starr was signed to Quove Model Management, a modeling agency based in Lagos. She has gone on to model for companies such as Mazelle Studio, Complete Fashion Magazine, and Esperanza Woman.
Ayra started uploading videos of herself singing on Instagram in 2019. She covered “Rise Up” by Andra Day “ and “Ole” by 2face despite nervousness over the reception of the videos. They all did well. Her life would change when in December of 2019 she posted a song she wrote herself titled “Damage”. It was a personal rendition with raw lyrics that evoked emotions.
Four hours after releasing the video on Instagram, she got a DM from music mogul Don Jazzy and the rest they say is history. She and Don Jazzy got to work immediately and after about a year, he signed her to his Mavin Records label imprint.
Following her signing, she started recording at the Mavins studio with producers Ikon, Louddaaa, Johnny Drille, and Don Jazzy. She released her self-titled debut project. It is an emotional – tender yet jarring – millennial diary.
The lead single from the project “Away” was “an amazing introduction to the young star”, Karen Chalamilla of the floor mag writes,
“As far as project openers go, Away feels as much of an insight into Ayra as the whole project is. The song is a reimagining of a heartbreak anthem, in which she is much more focused on the reclamation of her power than the pain she might have endured.
“The less than 20-minute musical offering not only solidifies the singer/songwriter as a standout vocalist but also serves as an acute window into her artistic sensibilities.”
Schon magazine described the album as “a coming-of-age jukebox”.
In Ayra’s words, “Growing up I listened to a lot of female musicians and I would feel happy and powerful. So, I wanted people to listen to the EP and feel better. The EP is very much a coming-of-age story, breaking free, nostalgic memories, and all that. I wanted young people to listen to it and feel heard and I wanted older people to listen to it and feel nostalgic.”
She later released visuals for “DITR” and “Sare”. Ayra Starr started working on her debut album. By mid-July, she announced that her album was ready and would be released in August. On the 28th of July, she released “Bloody Samaritan” as the lead single from the project.
19 & Dangerous dropped and it has been all the rave with critics praising her efforts. The project is fresh, exhilarating, exciting, packed with raw and unfiltered emotions. Her feelings burst through the production sharing her teenage fearlessness, her teenage romantic disappointments, her breakdown, and resilience.
“Ayra Starr simply demonstrated her artistic flexibility and expansion” one headline reads. Apt to describe a debut album that explodes unto its listeners.
The album is as good as you can imagine from a debut album. The mid-tempo production of her Gen Z anthem alluding to brazen defiance to the hurt she expresses alongside Ckay on “Beggie Beggie”. ‘Anything wey wan sup go sup’ she sings on Cast (Gen Z anthem).
In the words of Don Jazzy, “she is not just an amazing artist, but also an all-around superstar”. If you doubt the words of a man who has produced artists like D’Banj, Tiwa Savage, Wande Coal, and Rema, then give her album a listen. It is a culmination of youthful experiences summarized in beautiful melodies and sonorous climaxes.
A Starr is born, this Starr is here to stay. It is bold and it shines. This Starr is 19 & dangerous.
