Ayra Starr: Biography, songs, achievements, net worth

Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe is a Nigerian singer known professionally as Ayra Starr.

Ayra Starr, born in Cotonou, Benin Republic, started her fashion career at Quve Model Management when she was 16, after which she pursued a musical career.

She released her song in December 2019 after doing several covers of famous artists’ songs on Instagram. This brought her to the attention of record manager Don Jazzy, which led to her signing with Mavin Records.

Ayra Starr Biography

Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe was born in Cotonou, Benin, on June 14, 2002, and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. Her parents are from Kwara State, and she has four siblings. Due to her father’s business, her family frequently relocated during high school, making it difficult for her to make lasting friendships.

Her interest in singing stems primarily from her family because she was born in a musically inclined household. She started writing songs with her brother when she was ten and sang in a high school choir. She attended Les Cours Sonou University and graduated with a BA in political science and international relations.

Career

Ayra Starr joined the Lagos-based modelling agency Quove Models in August 2018. From then, she worked as a model for brands, including Esperanza Woman, Complete Fashion Magazine, and Mazelle Studio. She started uploading covers of songs by performers, including Andra Day and 2Face Idibia, in 2019. According to her, the reason she chose her stage name was that it “means woke and eye-opening, and that’s what she stand for.”

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She appeared in the music video of Eri Ife’s Dear Future Wife.

She shared an original song called Damage on her Instagram profile in December 2019, attracting many people, including Mavin Records chief Don Jazzy.

She began recording in 2020 with producers Louddaaa and Don Jazzy at the Mavin Studios in Lagos. She released her self-titled extended play on Mavin Records on January 22, 2021. According to reviews, the album merges elements of R&B/neo-soul with Afropop rhythms and is a topsy-turvy chronicle of love or love-themed circumstances.

Ayra Starr stated that she wanted to create songs for both young and old listeners with this album. Ikon, Louddaa, and Johnny Drille did the EP’s mixing and mastering.

She co-wrote four of the EP’s songs with her brother Dami, while she composed one of the songs on her own. The EP quickly rose to the top on Nigeria’s iTunes and Apple Music charts.

By March 2021, it had amassed over 15 million streams across Spotify, YouTube, and AudioMack, reaching the same rank on Apple Music in four additional countries. Away from the project peaked at four on Nigeria’s TurnTable Top 50 and 17 on the US Billboard Top Thriller Global. Its music video premiered on MTV Base’s Official Naija Top 10.

OkayAfrica listed the song as one of the nine Best Nigerian Songs of January 2021. Between March and April, Ayra Starr released remixes of Ija and Away with Tokimonsta and Lilo, respectively. Crayon’s EP Twelve A.M with her vocals on the track In Sync was also released in the same year.

She performed at The Olori Awards; a virtual cultural event by the UC Berkeley Nigerian Students Association. The official music video for her song DITR was released on YouTube by Mavin on April 28, 2021. The music video for another song, Sare, was made available in June 2021. Afolabi Olalekan was the director of both music videos.

Ayra Starr performed the Nigerian Idol season finale on July 11, 2021. Her debut studio album, 19 & Dangerous, was released on August 6, 2021. She teamed up with Don Jazzy and Louddaaa, who contributed to the production of her EP Ayra Starr and newcomers London and Andre Vibez for the album. She recorded for the first time on the album with guests including Fousheé and CKay.

It received positive reviews from critics, who described its music as largely R&B and Afropop. Bloody Samaritan, the album’s sole single, peaked at number one on the TurnTable Top 50 and became Ayra Starr’s first number-one single. It also produced two top-forty hits.

Ayra Starr became the first female artist to achieve this feat with a solo single when the song spent several weeks, climbing the Top 50 chart and eventually peaking at number one on the chart on September 27, 2021.

She made her debut on the Pandora Predictions chart, and on August 28, 2021, she was ranked second on Billboard’s list of the Next Big Sounds. She was featured on Johnny Drille’s Before We Fall Asleep.

She became a Pepsi brand ambassador on September 4, 2021.

Ayra Starr songs

Her songs include;

• Rush
• Bloody Samaritan
• Love Don’t Cost a Dime
• Beggie Beggie
• Sare
• Fashion Killer
• Running
• Lonely Refix
• Away
• Jane
• Cast
• Ase
• DITR
• Skinny Girl Anthem
• Options
• Lonely
• Ija
• Karma
• Snitch

Albums

• Ayra Starr EP (2021).
• 19 & Dangerous (2021).

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Achievements

The hit song Away from Ayra Starr’s self-titled debut extended play reached number 17 on the US Billboard Top Thriller Global and spent two weeks at number four on Nigeria’s TurnTable Top 50 in early 2021. This helped pave the way for the release of her debut full-length mixtape, 19 & Dangerous, in August 2021. The album, which is mostly classified as Afropop and R&B, has received positive reviews from critics.

The lead single, Bloody Samaritan, reached the top of the Top 50 chart, making history as the first solo track by a female artist to do so. Ayra Starr made her debut on the Pandora Predictions chart and peaked at number two on Billboard’s Next chart on August 28, 2021.

Ayra Starr net worth

Her net worth is currently estimated at $500,000.

Ayra Starr family

Ayra Starr is the second of four children. She has an elder brother, a musician, and two younger sisters. She lost her dad in 2018. There is no public knowledge about her relationship life. It is unknown if she is in a relationship or not.

Ayra Starr and Rema relationship

The two have been linked to having a romantic relationship; however, they both have a great working relationship as artists signed under Mavin Record. They are also very good friends, which many have mistaken as romantic.

Conclusion

Despite having a wide range of musical influences, Ayra Starr’s work has primarily been characterized as R&B and Afropop. Music critics have praised her voice’s dynamic range and emotional delivery, describing it as silky, warm, delicate, sturdy, captivating, and soulful. Her lyrics, which she writes in a combination of English, Pidgin English, and Yoruba, frequently explore modern issues like love, relationships, empowerment, and freedom.

She acknowledged having a wide range of musical influences throughout her upbringing, including 2Face Idibia, Wande Coal, Angélique Kidjo, the Lijadu Sisters, and Tope Alabi as later in college, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Sia, and Tiwa Savage. Along with Beyoncé, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, and Shakira, she named Shakira as her major vocal influence.

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