Nigerian singer Ayra Starr has just dropped her deluxe album 19 & Dangerous which boasts exciting collaborations from some of her favourite artists including Zinoleesky, Loujay, Foushèe, Kayykilo as well as the biggest and most awesome surprise Kelly Rowland on the remix of Bloody Samaritan. The 20 year old is thrilled about her rise to stardom, taking on the world with not only her music but style too.

“I love Kelly so much. When she sent me her verse, I thought to myself ‘Kelly took this one seriously’. She went crazy on that remix. It’s one of the best remixes to ever exist. She’s not an Afrobeats musician but she took herself into that space and came up with a verse that just blew everybody’s minds!”

Born Oyinkasola Sarah Aderibigbe, her love for music started at an early age. Outside of closely examining her music icons which include Rihanna and Billie Eilish, her family contributed immensely in building her musical foundation. She cites her mother as her biggest musical influence.

Since she and her siblings were not permitted to play outside, they had to get creative with indoor games. Music usually formed a huge part of their indoor entertainment. 

“My home was very creative and musical. It still is. My aunt used to rap. She would give us words and we had to write a song using those words. My siblings and I would plan dance competitions in advance and start rehearsing the week before. It was such a big deal to us,” she said. 

In recent years, we have witnessed social media change the lives of many talented hopefuls. The story of Ayra Starr is no different. She started off by doing covers of several songs by popular artists on Instagram and later posted her own original song in 2019. Renowned record producer and label owner Don Jazzy stumbled upon videos of her singing on social media, he was drawn by her magical voice and talent. 

On the 21^st of January 2020, Don Jazzy officially revealed the exciting news of Ayra being a part of the Mavin Records team. 

“Don Jazzy is such a good person. He inspires me and has taught me a lot,” shared the star. 

Since then, Ayra has seen many admirable career highlights, performing at sold-out venues around the world.

If you are on Tiktok, you will also know of the residents uncle who is always singing Bloody Samaritan, we asked Ayra about him and she is besotted with him, lauding the power of the internet to bring people together. She also hopes to meet him one day.

Also a model, Ayra believes that this aspect of her life set the foundation for the current season she is in. She also believes the two careers are not worlds apart and thus continues to model. 

“Modelling literally prepped me for this music life, because photos and video shoots come so easy to me now,” she explained. 

In an industry that can easily become too overwhelming and even brutal, Ayra Starr gets her confidence and sanity from her family and relationship with God. Surrounding herself with people who make her happy has also done the trick when it comes to having a safe space, staying grounded and being free from overwhelm. 

Currently single, the songstress expressed that she believes everything will align itself as far as finding the love of her life is concerned. Right now, she is just focused on pursuing her goals and being the best version of herself. 

Interestingly, she believes the one thing her followers do not know about her is that she often has a ‘food phase’ where she enjoys eating one dish and only that. 

“If it’s noodles, I’ll probably crave noodles and nothing else for the next two weeks” she said laughingly. 

With commendable achievements bagged in the first two decades of her life, the model and singer looks forward to what the future has in store for her. 

“You see these next 20 years? They’re about to be more amazing. I’m about to take Afrobeats to somewhere it has never been before. It’s also a time for my enjoyment. I don’t accept any form of negativity, only enjoyment and happiness for me!”