Ayra Starr is not your average 19-year-old. While most teens are working through many of the typical markers of nascent adulthood: graduating from school, ruminating on the future, and figuring the latest Y2K trend to re-invent, the Lagos-based singer is occupied with a different activity: navigating the less typical life of a global music superstar. At the top of the year, as the world slowly adjusted to life post-lockdown, the Mavin-signee shared her first single ‘Away’, a mournful, albeit confident break-up anthem that quickly took root on social media before fully taking over the airwaves. In a time where the internet created overnight stars while also demanding you fight for your spot amidst a deluge of new artists, the song and her eponymous EP became instant hits, tilting her world as her voice became inescapable.

Now, ten months after making her entry, guns blazing, it’s hard not to get sucked into Starr’s world when she joins me for a video call following a series of back-to-back flights and performances. Brimming with earnest, fast-talking energy, and a deep belly laugh insinuating a friendship I truly wish we had, our conversation reveals a young woman surprisingly unfazed by the surreal nature of her current life. Why? Well, let’s just say Starr always knew this was going to happen.

We talk about her recently released debut album ‘19 & Dangerous’, a genre-bending collection of thoughts and affirmations. On the prescient opening track, 'Cast (Gen Z Anthem)', we hear the voice of legendary singer and actress, Eartha Kitt, warning us of the dangers of listening to outside noise, as Starr sings about making mistakes and seeing them as just that, mistakes. She tells me the song was recorded for her peers, a new generation of young Nigerians for whom she hopes to lead a cultural and sonic revolution.

“I wasn’t sure ‘Cast’ would be the most popular song on the album but I knew it would connect with, and become an anthem for, the people that needed it the most,” she says. This song, just like several others on the record, provides a wide-lensed view into Starr’s constantly pacing mind, as she approaches the fulcrum point where societal expectations and self-doubt work as leverage. “I’m not afraid of falling down because I know I’m going to learn something new. If I fail, I’m going to get up and continue, and that’s how I’ve always been. It’s what makes me dangerous and unstoppable,” she adds.

Shuttling between Nigeria and the Benin Republic where she was born, Starr’s childhood was soundtracked by the likes of Angelique Kidjo, 2Face, the Lijadu Sisters, and you guessed it, Rihanna. Just like the Fenty multihyphenate, she has tried her hands on practically everything – modelling, dance and even nail design. However, it took an Instagram post of her singing ‘Damaged’ (renamed ‘Toxic’ on her album) for Mavin CEO Don Jazzy to reach out to her with the deal that has made her name. “One thing I knew was that if I didn’t have the ‘IT’ factor, Jazzy wouldn’t have signed me,” she says when confronted with the being on the imprint that produced stars like Tiwa Savage, Rema and Wande Coal. “I didn’t feel any pressure because I knew I was coming into the game to do something different.”

This risk eventually paid off with Starr’s self-titled EP and its lead single perched at the top of the charts in Nigeria and four other countries the week they arrived. And with over 23 million global streams, her music – fearless, raw and radical - has caused a tectonic shift as the teen sensation continues to subvert afrobeats in a bid to create a sound that is uniquely hers.

Starr understands dropping a debut EP and album in the same year is unconventional, especially in an industry where artists tend to coast off singles, avoiding the pressures of creating a full body of work. But she has no desire to adhere to Nigerian musical constructs. For the young star, song-writing and making music is not just a job, it also offers some form of catharsis, helping her truly experience life as it happens to, or around her. So, what makes this album different from her first offering? “With ‘Ayra Starr’, I wanted to show that I can do this music thing, but with ‘19 & Dangerous’, you can hear the confidence. It was me just being me.”

Almost three months since its release, hype surrounding the album’s defiant lead single ‘Bloody Samaritan’ has yet to die down. The song has become the soundtrack to countless social media posts as everyone hopped on the #BloodySamaritanChallenge. With success this early, it’s easy to get caught in the tidal wave of fame. After all, we have seen it happen over and over again. But Starr is unfazed. “I’m living on vibes,” she admits to me. “Don’t get me wrong, while I have calculated plans for the future, all in all, I love being young and I’m not trying to be older than my age. I’m still loud and hyperactive. I’m not thinking too deep into it.”

As our conversation touches on everything from being a plant mum to her obsession with Netflix’ Squid Game (her favourite character is the loud and obnoxious Han Mi-Nyeo, who she describes as “smart” not “manipulative”), I ask her what she hopes to hold on to as she grows as an artist and as a human being. “I love how I love people. I know how to give love,” she says matter-of-factly. “I want to hold on to that. Not just for the people in my life now but for the people I’m going to meet. I want them to say they met Ayra and she taught them how to love themselves and the people around them.”

With a new music video for another album standout, ‘Fashion Killa’, in the works, Starr also gushes about her lust for fashion, something she explores regularly with the help of her stylist, Pat Ada Eze. While thoughts on a potential fashion line have been noted down in a corner, for now, Starr is all about making music for people who “need” it. Vague as that might sound, she’s certain people who need her words and voice, will one way or the other, find it. But what exactly is she trying to give them? “I want them to feel like someone is speaking their mind,” she says after much thought. “The more I learn about life, the more I pour into my music. I am always evolving. So, I want them to listen and evolve.”

Words Conrad Johnson-Omodiagbe

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Published on 30/10/2021