Emerging into the African pop scene two years ago, Ayra Starr’s immersive records have won her the adulation of a constantly expanding fanbase. She is now embracing a wholesome experience of what it means to be a pop star in this age, branding and all things considered.
Editor’s note: This essay is available in our print issue, The Age of Afrobeats. Buy the issue here.
Twenty-two days into 2021, Mavin Records unearthed its then-latest gem. Announced with a self-titled EP as the label’s current generation of signees often were, Ayra Starr’s quality was distinct—that was evident early on. For observers of popular music, attuned to its implicit motivations and overarching trajectories, she was a descendant of a tradition that had its roots firmly embedded, but sometimes neglected, in Nigerian music: that of the conscious femme star. It had started in the 1980s with the likes of Onyeka Onwenu and Evi Edna Ogoli, whose shimmering songs considered from their own unique angles, what it meant to be a woman in Nigeria. The turn of the 2000s saw that vision translate into the high art of Asa’s music, where gutsy poetry blended with jazz and soul. Emerging later that decade were Tiwa Savage, Yemi Alade and Simi, although Tiwa Savage’s pop credentials and affiliation with Don Jazzy made Tiwa Savage most heralded as a direct predecessor to Ayra Starr’s own vision. But Ayra Starr had bigger plans; she wasn’t just cut from the cloth of musical greatness, she was intent on fashioning her own garment.
And she did. With just five songs which totalled under 14 minutes, that debut EP showcased Ayra Starr’s knack for creating well-realized pop music. The writing could sometimes be overly saccharine, but the project was immersive and its lead single ‘Away’ bloomed with the defining theme of a young woman’s search for intentional love...
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