Sensational singer, Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe, popularly known as Ayra Starr, has revealed her futuristic goal of becoming one of the leading Afrobeats artistes.
The Grammy nominee emphasized her vision for the Afrobeats genre to attain global preeminence.
In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan UK, she revealed her musical aspirations, expressing a desire to produce songs like that of Rihanna, Drake, Burna Boy, Beyoncé, Victoria Monét, Rema, Miley Cyrus, Kendrick Lamar, and Tyler The Creator.
She said: “My hope for Afrobeats is for it to be the biggest genre in the world because it deserves to be. Other genres of music are great, but there’s nothing like Afrobeat. Even the sad music makes you feel good. So, I want Afrobeats to be the biggest genre in the world and I would love to be one of the leading artistes.”
Grammy-nominated singer, Ayra Starr, has expressed her immense excitement upon learning that she would embark on a tour alongside the American star, Chris Brown.
The Nation reported that Ayra Starr is billed to join Chris Brown as a special guest on his “11:11” tour of the United States and Canada.
According to her, she was elated when she found out about the tour during the 2024 Grammy Week, adding that Chris Brown has been supportive towards African music.
Speaking in a recent interview with Kiss FM, UK, the singer said: “I first heard about it [my tour with Chris Brown] during the Grammy week. I was super excited. No, I didn’t cry. I would probably cry during my first performance at the tour when I see everybody.
“Chris Brown has been a fan of African music for a long time. He has been very supportive. He has always been supporting the culture and it is really beautiful to see.
“It is exciting to see African music get recognised globally. It has been a long time coming. African music has been popping. African music has been doing it in Africa. Actually, Afrobeats has always been the best genre in the world.”
Ayra Starr, the Afrobeats sensation, shared her vision for improving women’s lives if allowed to serve as president for a day.
The singer, who is currently on tour in an interview with MTV UK, said she would make things free for women and as such, they don’t have to pay to have anything.
The interviewer asked the ‘Commas’ hitmaker about laws she would enact if opportune to be a day’s president.
The Sabi girl responded: “If I was president for a day, I will make sure women don’t have to pay for anything. No woman will have to pay for anything, everything free. All the bags, all the jewelry, food. Women and children won’t have to pay for anything”.
Twenty-one-year-old Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe aka Ayra Starr has revealed intimate details about her immediate family and the support she gets from her parents, brothers and sisters.
The vocalist, who is signed under Don Jazzy’s Mavins/Universal Music Group, recently revealed that her mother knows every lyric to all her songs.
In a recent interview, she said her mum remains her number one fan.
“My mum knows every lyric to every song. We were having a conversation, and she was referencing “Ase.” I was like “OMG, mummy please, please!” So it’s an everyday thing; they’re in my life. They’re very proud of me, but they’re al@so kinda used to it as well. I feel like everybody expected it to happen,” s@he said.
Continuing, Ayra Starr revealed how she strives to make her family members enjoy her fame and fortune saying, “My younger brother makes music with me, so he’s literally my partner.
Grammy-nominated singer, Ayra Starr is thrilled as she will be accompanying popular American R&B star, Chris Brown on his North American tour this year.
The ‘Rush’ crooner and Muni Long will join Chris Brown as special guests on his “11:11” tour of the United States and Canada.
The American pop star took to his Instagram and X pages to make the announcement.
The 26-city tour will kick off in Detroit on June 4 and will be making stops in Chicago, New York, Toronto, Atlanta, Houston, and more before wrapping up in Los Angeles on August 6.
Chris Brown has previously gone on tour with Nigerian artistes, including Wizkid and Davido.
Young, pretty and musically talented, Ayra Starr is not only the face of Afrobeats but fashion and style. The 21-year-old songster, who started off as a model at the age of 16, has become a beacon of hope for a new generation of African artistes. For the first time, she was nominated in the Best African Music Performance category at the just-concluded 66th Grammy Awards where she spoke about her journey to music world. OLAITAN GANIU captures her chat.
THE RISE AND RISING
I’m constantly trying, constantly bettering myself, to show people I didn’t come perfect. I do have down and negative times where I’m in my head, I’m tired, or I’m not motivated. So, in a way, it’s sort of a selfish thing where I make those songs for I do have down and negative times where I’m in my head, I’m tired, or I’m not motivated. So, in a way, it’s sort of a selfish thing where I make those songs for myself. I have songs that I make for the future. Music is therapy for me.
Definitely, I’m not afraid to be seen trying, and that’s like my whole M.O. (motivation) because I’m not perfect, and I want that to inspire people. I didn’t know how to do riffs and runs last year; I had to learn it. I didn’t know how to learn choreography in one day, but now I’m doing that. I didn’t come knowing any of this, and I had to learn along the way. This is me documenting. When I say my age, I want people to be aware that I didn’t know anything. I’m just figuring this out.
CALL ME WORKHOLIC
After the world tour, my schedule is still packed with other stuff to do. I’m enjoying it to be honest. I had a two-day break and I could sit in one place. I’m just very used to the chaos of it all. I’m a proper Lagos babe, so I’m always buzzing for what’s next.
I feel like living in different places has really shaped my mind. I really know how to adapt to places, people as well as situations. And you can hear that in the music. I know how to try and do different things. I know how to put different cultures and different worlds into what I’m doing. In ‘Stability’ for instance, you can hear the French aspect of my life. I grew up listening to (Congolese singer and composer) Awilo and I sampled that. I mixed that with Lagos life — proper Afrobeats vibes.
MY LOVE FOR NUMBERS
To be honest, it (numbers) comes very naturally to me. I don’t know what it is yet. I’ve not tapped into that aspect of my life. I think it might make sense in the third album where I’ll be able to answer this question.
But I just like numbers. Right now, my favorite number is eight. I say eight all the time. I don’t even know why eight is just my number now. And with ‘19 & Dangerous’ and the tour called ‘21’, it’s just me relating everything to my age and where I am currently in life. It’s just showing people that [what’s happening in my life] is a very present movement and activity. I want people to know that, yeah, I did that when I was 19.
It’s less of me showing off and bragging and more about me being present. There were a lot of people that were 19 at that time. There were a lot of people that were 20, or 29 but could relate to what I was saying. With 21 now, I want to associate it with a feeling and less of a number.
TYLA INFORMED ME ABOUT MY GRAMMY NOMINATION
I was alone in my hotel room. I remember just speaking to God, asking him to let me be nominated. If I was nominated, I’d be so grateful because I’d know that all my hard work was not in vain.
This nomination came at one of my low days. I was unmotivated, doubting myself. It was cold, and I was just tired. I was like, I just want rice and stew, abeg. I’m just tired, abeg [meaning please]. Next thing I know, I started getting calls. Tyla sent me a message. So even before I found out, people had started messaging and congratulating me. After I checked, I just knelt down and thanked God.
PREGNANT WOMAN PROMISED TO NAME HER BABY AFTER ME
Singing “Rush,” the acoustic version, with my fans. I met this fan that was pregnant and she sent her baby scan and she wanted to let me know she’s naming her baby Ayra. I loved it so much, it made me so happy. That and just spending time with my team and my friends and being on stage. Every minute of being on stage is very memorable.
TOURING THE WORLD AND ITS MANY CHALLENGES
I’m human at the end of the day, and you get tired, overwhelmed, sick. I had the flu every two business days. I lost my voice. There are a lot of challenges on the road, but we can’t let that stop us. The thing about touring is that the world isn’t stopping for me. I still have my family, my younger sister that wants to talk to me every day, I still have my younger brother. I have friends to keep up with. I have to be a human being outside of this. It’s not necessarily a challenge; it’s just something I’m aware of, and sometimes it can be hard.
I’ve been touring for a while, but doing my own [tour] was a different feeling. Like people bought tickets to see me. I’m the reason they’re there. There’s no time to mess up. It’s a different type of pressure. At a certain point, during the Europe tour, I was just like, I’m so relaxed because it’s my stage, they’re here to see me you know. If I fall down, it’s all part of the vibe. It’s an experience for them. They’re ‘gonna’ talk about it years from now. It happened already but I’m over it. But it wasn’t during this tour. I just got up immediately. I couldn’t let that weigh me down.
I PREFER MODELLING BUT MY MUM FORCED ME TO DO MUSIC
wanted to do modelling because everyone told me I couldn’t do it, like I’m not tall enough, and I told them, “watch me.” And I ended up doing it. When I look back, I’m so proud of little Ayra too. It’s because of her that I’m here now. It’s because of that 16-year-old girl that didn’t give up and kept going. I used to do cover (songs) on Instagram. My mum and her friends used to force me to do covers. I uploaded one cover on Instagram — I didn’t even like the video. But something just kept telling me to post it and I did. Not up to 6 hours later, (Marvin Records CEO) Don Jazzy reached out. Three days later, he signed me.
Everything has been memorable — meeting Kelly, David. Like the Nigerian girl in me wanted to call him Mr. David, but he was like “no Ayra” and I was like “no sir but….” [Laughs.] All these people, they’re human beings, and we forget that sometimes. They’re regular humans with their lives, making music and doing what they love.
David was an amazing person. He was so free. After every lyric I recorded, he’d whisk me up in the air. He was so hyped and happy. Then Kelly was like the most amazing human being. I’m so blessed to know her. She is an inspiration to me and everything to me. Even before she recorded the verse, I’d loved her for a long time.
I don’t know how she does it, whenever I’m feeling low or down, she just knows. She’ll send me a random message or voice memo telling me to keep going. She’s the most amazing human being; I love her so much. She’s like my big aunty, she’s my friend. She’s a friend.
Afrobeats pop star, Ayra Starr has recounted how she got signed into the Mavin Record Label owned by Don Jazzy days after she did a song cover.
She said it took merely three days to secure the deal.
The Commas crooner disclosed how her journey to the music industry began with doing cover songs on social media, which ultimately led to catching the attention of the record label boss, Don Jazzy.
Ayra Starr shared that her transition from modelling to music was spurred by her mother’s encouragement to pursue her passion for singing.
Ayra Starr’s determination to prove herself paid off as she shifted her focus to music, a decision that ultimately led to her current success.
In her words: “I wanted to do modelling because everyone told me I couldn’t do it like I’m not tall enough, and I told them, “Watch me.” And I ended up doing it. When I look back, I’m so proud of little Ayra, too. It’s because of her that I’m here now. It’s because of that 16-year-old girl who didn’t give up and kept going. I used to do cover [songs] on Instagram. My mum and her friends used to force me to do covers.”
“I uploaded one cover on Instagram, I didn’t even like the video. But something just kept telling me to post it and I did. Not up to 6 hours later, Don Jazzy reached out. Three days later, he signed me,” she said.
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe is known as Ayra Starr in the world of music. The 21-year-old is one of the new generation African talents who is flying Nigeria’s flag with her sounds.
Since the release of her debut EP in 2021, the vocalist has been on the radar of many music buff, dominating global music charts.
In a recent chat, she spoke about her first-time nomination in the Best African Music Performance category at the 66th Grammys, her rising profile on the music scene, how she handles male admirers and others.
The ‘Rush’ star said she was bothered about men or women gazing at her.
“I’m an artiste to the core, and I want my style, my hair, my music, to represent how I feel. I don’t really care about aesthetics, it’s more about how I feel. I’m not really bothered about the male, female gaze, or anybody’s gaze for that matter, except my own. I’ve always had a mind of my own. Growing up in different places, in different cultures, has shaped my mind. And in spite of all these influences, I’m still myself. I wrote “Asé” when I was 15 — I had no business writing that song. So that gives you a glimpse of the kind of mindset I had at a young age.”
On how her mum redirected her passion from modelling to music, the Mavins recording act said: “I wanted to do modelling because everyone told me I couldn’t do it, like I’m not tall enough, and I told them, “watch me.” And I ended up doing it.
When I look back, I’m so proud of little Ayra, too.
It’s because of her that I’m here now. It’s because of that 16-year-old girl that didn’t give up and kept going. I used to do cover [songs] on Instagram. My mum and her friends used to force me to do covers. I uploaded one cover on Instagram — I didn’t even like the video. But something just kept telling me to post it and I did. Not up to 6 hours later, [Marvin Records CEO] Don Jazzy reached out. Three days later, he signed me.”
Raving afrobeats star Ayra Starr has revealed how love for music got her into the university at 14.
According to the songstress, she bagged a degree early because her mother insisted that she must graduate before pursuing her music career and she wanted to be a teenage pop star.
She disclosed this in a recent interview with American media giant Billboard News.
Starr recounted: “I got into the university at 14. I feel like my mum has been using music to blackmail me since I was a child. She was like, ‘If you want to do music, you have to do this.’ When she suggested we relocate to Lagos from Benin Republic, I declined initially but she convinced me that Lagos is the land of music.
“She insisted that if I want to do music, I would have to finish school first. Usually, a lot of people in Nigeria finish secondary school at 15, 16.
“I knew that if I waited till I’m 15 [before completing my secondary school], I won’t be able to be a teenage pop star. And I wanted to be a teenage pop star. So, I joined my elder brother and wrote JAMB, what you guys called SAT here.
“To be honest, the result wasn’t crazy to get me onto all these Ivy League schools but it was enough to pass by. It was enough for my mum.
“I got admitted into a good school. My course was for three years. It was International Relations. And immediately after my graduation, I started doing music covers online and that same year I got signed [to Mavin Records label].”
