Biography ayra starr
By Yungsea
For her eponymous debut EP, see Ayra Starr (EP).
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe (born 14 June 2002), known professionally as Ayra Starr, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter.
Ayra Starr
Starr performing in 2023
Born
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe
14 June 2002 (age 22)
Cotonou, Benin
Other names
Celestial Being • Sabi girl
Alma mater
Les Cours Sonou, University
Occupation
Singer • songwriter
Years active
2018–present
Musical career
Origin
Lagos, Nigeria
Genres
AfrobeatsR&BaltéAfro-pop
Instrument(s)
Vocals
Labels
Mavin
Website
ayrastarr.com
Ayra Starr performs “Rush” at Shoke Shoke Festival in Kenya, 2023.
In early 2021, Starr achieved mainstream recognition with her eponymous debut extended play and its hit track “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, paving the way for the release of her first full-length album, 19 & Dangerous (2021). Categorized mainly as Afropop and R&B, the mixtape 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. Starr debuted on Pandora Predictions chart and on 28 August 2021, was ranked number three on Billboard’s Next Big Sound.[1]
Starr would later achieve 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.[2] it earned Starr her first nomination at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for Best African Music Performance.[3]
With the song, Starr became the youngest African female artist to surpass 100 Million views on a single video on YouTube, and also the first to do so within 5 months.[2]
Early life
edit
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe was born on 14 June 2002 in Cotonou, Benin and grew up there and in Lagos, Nigeria.[4] She is Nigerian and of the Yoruba ethnicity. 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.[4]
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.[4] She attended Les Cours Sonou University and received a BA 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.”[4] Starr’s mother was very supportive of her musical ambitions and always encouraged her to pursue a singing career.[5]
Career
edit
2018–2020: Career beginnings
edit
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.[5] She chose her stage name because in her words, “it means woke and eye-opening and that’s what I stand for.”[6] 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.[7][5][8]
In 2020, she started recording at Mavin Studios in Lagos with producers Louddaaa and Don Jazzy.
2021–2023: Ayra Starr and 19 & Dangerous
edit
Her self-titled debut extended play was released on 22 January 2021 through Mavin Records.[9] 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 Afropop percussion.”[10] Starr said her intention with the record was to make music that would resonate with both young and old listeners.[11] 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.[9] 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.[12] OkayAfrica included the song in their list of The 9 Best Nigerian Songs of January 2021.[13] 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.”[14] She performed at the “UC Berkeley” Nigerian Students Association virtual culture show titled The Olori Awards.[15] In April 2021, the official music video for her song “DITR” was released on YouTube via Mavin.[16] In June 2021, the music video for another song titled “Sare”, was released. Both music videos were directed by Afolabi Olalekan.
On 11 July 2021, Starr performed for the season finale of Nigerian Idol.[17] On 6 August 2021, her debut studio album, titled 19 & Dangerous was released. For the album, she worked with her previous collaborators Louddaaa and Don Jazzy, both of whom contributed production on her EP Ayra Starr, and new collaborators, London and Andre Vibez. The album marked her first time recording alongside guest artists such as Fousheé and CKay.[18] It was met with favorable critical reception with most critics characterizing its sound as primarily Afropop and R&B. It spawned two top forty hits on the TurnTable Top 50, the highest being “Bloody Samaritan”, its lone single, which became Starr’s first number-one single on the chart. The song climbed the Top 50 for several weeks, and, on the chart dated 27 September 2021, it reached the number one spot, making Starr the first female artist to do so with a solo single.[19][20][21] She debuted on Pandora Predictions chart and on 28 August 2021, she ranked number two on the Billboard’s Next Big Sound.[1] She was featured on “in the light”, a track on Johnny Drille’s Before We Fall Asleep. In September 2021, she was named brand ambassador for Pepsi Nigeria. The following day, Starr performed during a live eviction episode of Big Brother Naija.[22] She collaborated with Cheque on “Dangerous”, the second track on his album Bravo. At the 8th African Muzik Magazine Awards, she was nominated for Best Newcomer award. In March 2022, Starr was named “Up Now” by music streaming service Audiomack.[23]
On 16 September 2022, Starr released “Rush” as part of the deluxe of 19 & Dangerous.[24] The song charted in several territories, including Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 24.[2] It became the most streamed solo song by a Nigerian female artist on Spotify and propelled her to become the youngest African female artist to surpass 100 million views on a single YouTube video; and also earned Starr her first nomination at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for Best African Music Performance.[3][25] On 10 November 2022, Starr featured on “2 Sugar”, a track from Wizkid’s fifth studio album More Love, Less Ego. The song reached number 1 on Billboard’s Hot Trending, and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart.[26] On 4 March 2023, Starr took to social media to announce her music was used as soundtrack for blockbuster American action movie, Creed III.[27][28] On 13 July 2023, Starr announced that she would headling her first world tour titled “21: The World Tour”.[29] The tour included 40 stops across North America, Africa, Europe and Australia.[29] On 27 October 2023, David Guetta featured Ayra Starr and Lil Durk on a house-influenced afrobeat song titled “Big FU”.[30][31]
2024–present: The Year I Turned 21
edit
On 1 February 2024, Starr released her single “Commas”.[32]
On 5 March 2024, American R&B artist Chris Brown announced that Starr would be one of the opening acts for his 2024 arena tour in North America.[33]
On 8 April 2024, Jamaican record producer Rvssian released the single “Santa” in collaboration with Starr and reggaeton artist Rauw Alejandro.[34] The song helped Starr become the first female Nigerian artist to reach a peak of 20 million monthly listeners on Spotify.[35][36]
On 30 April 2024, Starr announced that her sophomore album titled The Year I Turned 21 would be released in May.[37] Her album The Year I Turned 21 made her the first Nigerian female artist on the Billboard 200 chart; the album debuted at number 195 on June 10, 2024.[38]