BIGRAPHY
ayra starr biography
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe (born 14 June 2002), also known on stage as Ayra Starr, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and model who hails from Kwara State in Nigeria. In early 2021, Ayra 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 and went to number 17 on US Billboard Top Triller Global paving the way for the release of her first full-length studio album, 19 & Dangerous in August 2021.
Categorized mainly as Afropop and R&B, the album has been met with favorable critical reception. It 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.
Early Life
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe was born in Cotonou, Bénin on 14 June 2002, and grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. She was born to Nigerian parents from Kwara State and has four siblings: brothers Ade and Dami, two sisters Tolulope and Jesutunmise. 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 friends. 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.
Education
Ayra Starr attended Les Cours Sonou University and received a BA degree in international relations and political science, her classmates often bullied her because of her age and appearance. To counter the feelings she experienced from being taunted, Ayra Starr turned to music by listening to Nicki Minaj’s music on her way to school. Ayra Starr’s mother was very supportive of her musical ambitions and always encouraged her to pursue a singing career.
Musical Career
ayra starr personal life
In August 2018, Starr was signed with Quove Models, a modeling agency based in Lagos. From there, she modeled 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. She chose her stage name because, in her words, “it means woke and eye-opening and that’s what I stand for.”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.
In 2020, she started recording at Mavin Studios in Lagos with producers Louddaaa and Don Jazzy. Her self-titled debut extended play was released on 22 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.” Ayra Starr said her intention with the record was to make music that would resonate with both young and old listeners. 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.
Ayra 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. On 28 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.
On 11 July 2021, Ayra 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 Ayra 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 Billboard’s Next Big Sound. She was featured on “in the light”, a track on Johnny Drille’s Before We Fall Asleep. On 4 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 Best Newcomer award. Awards and Honors.
Personal Life
Ayra Starr lost her dad to the cold hands of death in 2018. This loss affected Ayra a lot because she was very close to her father. She has written and sang some songs as a tribute to her dad. She lives with her mother and brother in the Mainland part of Lagos.
Ayra Starr has no boyfriend or husband for now. Her current hit song, “Away” details the pain she faced after leaving her last relationship. She sings about being liberated and finding strength in it. She has also revealed that she freestyled some of the verses.
Net Worth
ayra starr net worth
There is little information as regards her net worth because she just started her music career only recently. There are only speculations that her Net worth is estimated at $400,000
