Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe (born 14 June 2002), known professionally as Ayra Starr, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and model from Kwara State, Nigeria. In early 2021, Ayra Starr broke into the mainstream with the release of her self-titled debut extended play and its hit single, “Away.” The track spent two straight weeks at number four on Nigeria’s TurnTable Top 50 chart and hit number 17 on the US Billboard Top Triller Global. That success paved the way for her debut full-length studio album, 19 & Dangerous, released in August 2021.

The album was well received by critics and is mostly categorized as Afropop and R&B. It scored two hits in the top forty in Nigeria. The album’s debut single, “Bloody Samaritan”, reached the number-one place on the Top 50 chart, making it the first solo song by a female artist to achieve this feat.

Ayra Starr’s Early Life

Ayra Starr was born Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe in Cotonou, Benin, on June 14, 2002, and spent her youth between Benin and Lagos, Nigeria. She started writing music at age 10, and began her career in modeling at 16 before earning a university degree in international relations and political science.

Education

Ayra Starr attended Les Cours Sonou University, graduating with a BA in international relations and political science. However, she was sometimes ridiculed by her peers due to her age and appearance. To overcome the sentiments she felt from being taunted, Ayra Starr resorted to music by listening to Nicki Minaj’s music on her walk to school. Ayra Starr’s mother was highly supportive of her music goals and constantly pushed her to pursue a career in singing.

Musical Career

She signed with Lagos-based modeling agency Quove Models in August 2018. From then she modeled for companies such as Mazelle Studio, Complete Fashion Magazine and Esperanza Woman.

In 2019, she began publishing internet covers of singers like as Andra Day and 2Face Idibia. She choose her stage name because, as she said, “it means woke and eye-opening and that’s what I stand for.”She featured in Eri Ife’s music video for the song “Dear Future Wife.”

In December 2019 she posted an original song titled “Damage” on her Instagram profile. This was heard by thousands of people including label executive Don Jazzy, and led to her first recording contract with Mavin Records.

She began recording in 2020 at Mavin Studios in Lagos with producers Louddaaa and Don Jazzy. On January 22, 2021, she released her self-titled debut extended play via Mavin Records. It has been called “a topsy-turvy chronicle of love or love-themed situations” and “fuses elements of R&B/neo-soul with Afropop percussion.” Ayra Starr said she wanted to develop an album that will connect with young and old listeners alike. Starr wrote one of the EP’s songs alone, while co-writing the other four with her brother Dami. It was released and some time after, it became the number one album on Nigeria iTunes and Apple Music. By March 2021 it has climbed to the same spot on Apple Music in 4 more countries and boasts over 15 million streams across Spotify, YouTube and Audio Mack. The project produced the hit record “Away” which peaked at number four on Nigeria’s TurnTable Top 50 and number 17 on US Billboard Top Triller Global. The song’s music video also premiered on MTV Base’s Official Naija Top 10. The song also appeared on OkayAfrica’s The 9 Best Nigerian Songs of January 2021.

In March and April, Ayra Starr released remix versions of “Ija” starring Tokimonsta and “Away” featuring Lilo. Around the same time Crayon launched her EP Twelve A.M and contributed her vocals to the single “In Sync.”

She performed in the Nigerian Students Association virtual culture presentation at UC Berkeley, The Olori Awards. The official music video for her song “DITR” was published on YouTube via Mavin on 28 April, 2021. In June 2021, the music video for another song called “Sare” was released. Both song videos were directed by Afolabi Olalekan.

Ayra Starr participated at the season finale of Nigerian Idol on 11 July 2021. Her debut studio album 19 & Dangerous was released on 6 August 2021. For the album, she worked with her previous colleagues Louddaaa and Don Jazzy, who both contributed production on her EP Ayra Starr, and new collaborators, London and Andre Vibez. The album is her first time working with guest musicians such as Fousheé and CKay. The album was well received by critics, with most of them describing its sound as Afropop and R&B. It had two Top 40 hits on the TurnTable Top 50 with the highest being its lone single “Bloody Samaritan” which became Starr’s first number-one single on the chart. The song stayed in the Top 50 for several weeks, and on the list of 27 September, 2021, it reached the number one place, making Ayra Starr the first female artist to achieve number one with a solo single.

She appeared on Pandora Predictions chart. On 28 August 2021, she placed number two on Billboard’s Next Big Sound. She was featured on Johnny Drille’s track “in the light” from his album Before We Fall Asleep. On September 4, 2021, she was chosen brand ambassador for Pepsi Nigeria. Starr was on a live eviction episode of Big Brother Naija the next day. She teamed up with Cheque on the second single of his album Bravo titled “Dangerous”.

She was nominated for Best Newcomer award at the 8th African Muzik Magazine Awards . Awards & Accolades

Personal Life

When she was younger, Ayra looked up to pop stars like Beyoncé and Rihanna. She’s a self-proclaimed “Disney girl” who grew up dreaming of being the “Black Hannah Montana from Lagos” to represent young African girls on a global stage. Her lyrics are generally a mixture of English, Pidgin and Yoruba.

Ayra Starr is known to keep her love life under wraps. She has been known to keep her relationship status under wraps at times, but she has stated her willingness to discover true love and even broached the notion of incorporating her real-life lover in a music video to keep it anchored in a real “Lagos love story”.

Net Worth

Ayra Starr is a Nigerian Afrobeats singer and songwriter with a net worth ranging from $500,000 to $1 million. Her riches is mostly credited to her great global music career, lucrative endorsement deals with brands like Pepsi and Maybelline, as well as her new sportswear partnership with New Balance.

Her billions of streams worldwide, international tours and modeling contracts have made her one of the most famous voices in modern African music, and her wealth is growing.