Ayra Starr
Sarah Oyinkansola Aderibigbe, professionally known as Ayra Starr, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. She achieved mainstream international recognition in 2022 with the release of her song, "Rush." Rush had then charted in several territories, including Switzerland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 24. It earned Starr a nomination at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for Best African Music Performance.
In early 2021, Ayra Starr began her career with the release of her self-titled debut EP 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 Thriller Global chart. It was followed by the release of her debut studio album, 19 & Dangerous. Categorized mainly as Afropop and R&B, the work received favorable critical reception and spawned two top 40 hits in Nigeria. The lead single, "Bloody Samaritan" became the first song by a solo female artist to reach the number-one position in the Top 50 charts. In August that same year, Starr was ranked number three on Billboards Next Big Sound.
In 2024, Starr released her second album, The Year I Turned 21.
Life and career
Early life
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe was born on June 14, 2002 in Cotonou, Bénin, and grew up in Cotonou and Lagos, Nigeria. She is Nigerian and of Yoruba heritage, with both parents from Kwara State. She was raised in a multilingual home, and learned both Yoruba and French during her early years in Bénin. She is also fluent in English and Nigerian Pidgin, which she often uses during her work and press interactions.Aderibigbe has expressed that her family's frequent relocations, driven by her father's business ventures, made it difficult to form lasting friendships during high school. She is the second of five children. She and her older brother, Dami, played music together in their childhood. At age ten, she joined the school choir and began writing songs with Dami, guided by their mother, a former singer. The siblings formed a band and regularly entered local music competitions together.
Though Aderibigbe gravitated toward the arts as a teen, her father often urged her to prioritize academics. She attended Les Cours Sonou University in Cotonou 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. As a form of escapism, she turned to music. "I would listen to Nicki Minaj on my way to school, and I'd feel like the second Nicki Minaj." Aderibigbe's mother supported her musical ambitions and reportedly encouraged her to pursue a singing career.
2018–2020: Career beginnings
Starr's early performance experience included competing as a child on the Nigerian television talent show Maltina Dance All, where she finished in second place and won a TV set as a prize, an accomplishment her family viewed as an early indication of her talent. During her school years, she performed a mashup of One Direction's "Story of My Life" and Adekunle Gold's "Sade" at a school concert. According to Starr, the performance moved parents and teachers to tears, and she was encouraged to take music seriously, marking what she later described as her "genesis." In August 2018, Starr signed with Quove Models, a Lagos-based modeling agency. She subsequently modelled for companies such as Mazelle Studio, Complete Fashion Magazine, and Esperanza Woman. She later said that music and fashion were complementary interests that came naturally to her.In 2019, Aderibigbe started posting song covers by artists like Andra Day and 2Face Idibia on social media. That year, Starr also performed at a poetry show where she covered Jorja Smith's "Don't Watch Me Cry," recalling that some audience members cried during her set. She chose the stage name "Ayra Starr" because it meant "woke and eye-opening", values she identified with. She also appeared in the music video for Eri Ife's song "Dear Future Wife". Despite a growing online presence, she remained uncertain about pursuing music and even considered music management to support her brother Dami's ambitions. As a boarding school student, she had aspired to sign with Mavin Records, borrowing teachers' phones to stream videos of the label's artists such as Di'Ja and Korede Bello.
In December 2019, Starr uploaded an original song called "Damage" to her Instagram page. Within three hours, Mavin founder Don Jazzy sent her a message expressing his interest in her music and inviting her to meet. Don Jazzy had discovered her page through a follower who shared content from several young creatives. Starr's first sessions at Mavin Studios were her introduction to professional recording. She admitted being extremely nervous during those times; she and her brother would quietly celebrate whenever Don Jazzy left the room, then compose themselves again when he returned. She later reflected on the Mavin environment as familial rather than strictly business-oriented. Throughout 2020, she recorded at Mavin Studios in Lagos with producers Louddaaa, Don Jazzy, and Dayogrey.
2021–2023: ''Ayra Starr'' and ''19 & Dangerous''
Her self-titled debut extended play was released in 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 Afropop percussion." 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. 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.In July 2021, Starr performed for the season finale of Nigerian Idol. 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. 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. She debuted on Pandora Predictions chart and on 28 August 2021, she ranked number two on the Billboards Next Big Sound. 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. She collaborated with Cheque on "Dangerous", the second track on his album Bravo. At the 8th African Muzik Magazine Awards, she was nominated for the Best Newcomer award. In March 2022, Starr was named "Up Now" by music streaming service Audiomack.
In September 2022, Starr released "Rush" as part of the deluxe of 19 & Dangerous. The song charted in several territories, including Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 24. It became the most streamed solo song by a Nigerian female artist on Spotify and made her 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. On 10 November 2022, she 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. Throughout this period, Starr was also recording material for her next project at Mavin Studios in Lagos, working with regular collaborators. In March 2023, her music appeared on Creed III soundtrack, and in July 2023, she announced her first headlining world tour, 21: The World Tour, with 40 stops across North America, Europe, Africa and Australia. The lead single from her next album, "Rhythm & Blues", was released in September 2023, exploring themes of romance and vulnerability. She was also featured on the David Guetta song "Big FU", along with rapper Lil Durk, which reached No. 23 on the U.S. Afrobeats Songs and No. 18 on New Zealand Top 40 charts.