Ayra Starr On Her Rise To Global Gen Z Music Fame

Ayra Starr is the global Gen Z star making waves in the music industry, and for good reason. At only twenty years of age, the Nigerian songstress is not afraid to put in the hard work with her collection of signature, infectious tunes, which has already resulted in her bagging a mammoth 820 million streams worldwide and over 460 million views on Youtube, which is major.

Oh, and did we mention that she went viral on TikTok with her song Rush? The music video for the song ranked in YouTube's Top 30 Music Videos for three consecutive months and became Ayra's first solo UK No.1 on the Afrobeats chart and her first release to break into the UK Official Top 100. Phewf, we're exhausted (in a good way) just listening to that, but Ayra isn't. In fact, she's just getting started.

Hot on the heels of last year's Rush, Ayra has released her first solo single Sability of 2023, which stays true to her unique blend of Afropop, R&B and soul and hammers home the message of living life on your own terms. IRL, Ayra remains true to that mantra as she chats to GLAMOUR in an exclusive interview about her journey in music so far, the positives and negatives of social media, and how she stays unapologetically true to her confident, authentic self. 

GLAMOUR: Firstly, you've already had so much success early on in your career. What does the whole experience feel like for you?

It feels amazing because it's something I dreamed of. I have wanted to be a superstar since I was 16. I wanted to be like Hannah Montana! That's always my plan. So when I wasn't a superstar at 16, I was like, "Damn. I'm never going to do this. This is not going to work." But here I am now, so it's fine.

Now you're here! How did you get the wheels turning in your career?

So before I turned 18, I uploaded a cover on Instagram and the owner of my label, Don Jazzy [CEO of Mavin Records], saw it, and he told me to come to the studio. So I went with my brother, and we recorded some music, and now I'm here!

Where do you source your inspiration for your music?

I grew up listening to a lot of people from Disney. I watched every Disney show! I'm also inspired by Rihanna and Beyonce. I'm also a big Shakira fan and a fan of Nigerian music from 2Face and Wande Coal.

In your music, you talk about things like empowerment and freedom. Why is that so important for you?

It's important because I like to make music that makes me feel good. When I'm in a dark place, I want to make music that brings me out of that. So when I make music for empowerment, I'm usually trying to empower myself. And luckily, the world can relate to that too.

How has your experience in the music industry been for you so far?

I usually don't allow people's opinions or the music industry's opinions to be the reason I'm making any type of music. My label gives me creative freedom. I try to give myself creative freedom too, because it's very easy for me to want to conform to what is selling and what is. But I try to make music that I love. When I released my latest single, Sability, there was so much, "Oh, what type of music is this? This is not what you should be doing." I'm like, "You don't know what I should be doing. I have range. I can make any type of music I want to make." So they don't count. Nobody accounts for me.

You've also seen a lot of viral social media fame, which is the non-traditional way of being recognised in the music industry. How has that aspect been for you?

It's amazing because I'm a social media baby. I grew up on social media. It was a thing. At ten, it was like, "Oh, I have a Facebook account now." So now it's like, I have fan pages on Facebook and stuff. So I feel like social media has played a big role in my success, so I'm grateful for that.

Have you dealt with any negative aspects of social media?

The type of person I am, I don't see hate. I tell people, "I genuinely do not..." Even though I see it, I'm like, "I didn't see that." I only focus on positivity. Everybody else is going to be fine. Anyways, we can coexist because if you want to hate, do you, darling! We can coexist. Whatever makes you happy.

Meanwhile, you obviously look amazing as well! Is fashion a way you express yourself as well, or do you just leave that to music?

Definitely! I always say if I wasn't going to make music, I was going to be in fashion. I was modelling before I was making music. So I modelled for two years before music, and I like to show my personality through my outfits and everything. Fashion is definitely a way of showing myself.

What does your family make of all of this international success?

They're tired of me! When I was younger, and I was always singing, they were like, "Keep quiet." It's still the same thing, too, now. Trust me! Now that they're playing my music, they love it. My mum loves it. My younger sister loves it. On my younger sister's Instagram page, she's like, "Ayra Starr's younger sister." So they're so proud. They love it. My brother is a big part of my journey, too, because he's a songwriter, so he wrote half of my album with me.

You've met and collaborated with a few big names as well. What's the biggest compliment that you've received from someone famous?

My confidence! Everybody always looks at my confidence like, "Just keep it up. Keep doing..." My idol, my absolute idol in music, told me that I work so hard, and she can see it, and I should just keep going, and I shouldn't look back. I should just keep going. That was so good to hear!

Who do you hope to collaborate with?

Doja Cat. Nicki Minaj, definitely. Rihanna, definitely. Beyonce, definitely. Kendrick Lamar, definitely!

What would you say is the most important lesson that you've learned in your music journey so far?

Trusting the process and trusting God. That's one thing I've learned so well. Just keep going. Another thing I've learned, stop dwelling in the past. Don't look back, don't look sideways. Just keep going. It might look like you're stuck right now, but trust me, just keep going. And that's one thing I've learned. Also, trying to find peace and beauty in the stillness. Even though it feels like nothing is going on, just be content wherever you are.

What's the ultimate dream? Where do you see yourself in five years?

I don't like to talk about my future goals because I don't want to jinx it, But in five years, I definitely just want to be the most successful artist I could possibly be. Also, I'd love to be in fashion and have my own line of stuff. I don't know what it is. I can't say it yet, but yeah, you're going to find out!

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