There’s resilience, and then there’s Ayra Starr. Two weeks before the release of her new album, Starrgirl, the Nigerian singer posted a photo from a hospital bed after undergoing major surgery. “I was hoping it would be a quick recovery, but it was more complicated than they expected,” she told fans, without disclosing the nature of the procedure. Within seven days, she was back in the dance studio, rehearsing for forthcoming performances with a large bandage still visible. “I’m healing,” she told the US breakfast TV show, Today. “I’m so happy I was able to even be here today and be able to do this.”
It is a display of the tenacity and ambition that has defined Starr’s career to date. Discovered singing covers on YouTube at the age of 18, she became the first African woman to win best international act at the Mobo Awards, and the first Nigerian woman to surpass one billion video views on YouTube. In 2024, she was the first Afrobeats artist to play Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, finishing her set by declaring she would return as a headliner. She is given to grand proclamations like “I’m unstoppable” or “I will exist in multitudes.”
So it is hardly a surprise that Starr pitches up to our interview with a sort of celestial confidence. She is a multiple Grammy and Mobo Award nominee for hit songs like Rush, Commas, Sability, and Gimme. Last year, she modelled for Di Petsa at London Fashion Week, closing their show in a white lace two-piece, flanked by an angel. TV appearances, fan events, and live performances have followed, cementing her status as a global icon.
That confidence is likely due to a sense of humour so dry it could soak up a tsunami. Starr is famously sarcastic. For example, when music legend Stevie Wonder phoned to congratulate her on a Grammy nomination, she goaded him. “I was trying to one-up him every single time, and he was trying to one-up me. It was almost like a battle,” she recalls. Starr eventually got to the point where she told Wonder, a Taurus, that “Tauruses ain’t crap.” She laughs, “I’m sure he was like, ‘Who is this? What do you want from me?’ But it was a very cute conversation.”
It is an unorthodox approach to making friends, but it seems to work. Starr was invited to support Coldplay on their Music of the Spheres tour, and Chris Martin gave feedback on songs from her second album, The Year I Turned 21. Over the course of her career, Starr has collaborated with Coldplay, Tyla, David Guetta, Le Sserafim, and Kelly Rowland. Her new album boasts collaborations with Afrobeats legends Wizkid and Rema, as well as One Direction’s Zayn.
The album is her first under a new management deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, and a relocation to New York. “New York is basically a walk-in freezer with rent,” she wrote. “It’s so cold it feels like the city is punishing you.” Behind the move was a desire to explore new influences and expand her sound. So you get a track like Where Do I Go, which features a heavy, syncopated beat. “Like, the rebel I am, I love to juxtapose,” she says. “I don’t like being normal and boring. So the idea of writing a heartbreak song on a beat like that, where the production is so high-energy, is exciting.”
The lyrics were inspired by a secretive relationship “that was stuck in a rut but I kept coming back to it.” Starr admits the thought of starting over with someone else filled her with fear. “You’re back to square one, and somebody’s asking for your favourite colour again. I’m like, ‘Oh my God! Can we, like, not do that?'” The problem with staying in the relationship, however, was the way it affected the rest of her life. “You keep accepting things lower than your standard, and that influences every single thing in your life. So even though I enjoyed the romance while it lasted, I picked my priorities and what was most important to me.”
Starr is not just a musical prodigy; she studied for a degree in International Relations and Political Science. She often speaks about the importance of cultural representation, particularly regarding the gele headwrap. “I’m not the first to do it, I won’t be the last to do it – but I want people to feel confident in their culture and wear it like the crown that it is.” As she says in her new song, Amazing: “If they’re gonna talk, I’ll give them something to talk about.” “That’s definitely my mantra,” she says.
The story of her growth could act as a metaphor for the entire album. After the runaway success of her breakout single, she felt the pressure of expectations. “Just like any other pop artist, passive listeners get attached to the songs they know – the popular songs. Then you’re stuck between creating for the passive listeners and creating for your core fans who want you to evolve. So that can limit you, because you stop thinking as an artist and start thinking about making music just for the sake of numbers.”
“But I’m not meant to conform. It’s just not who I am. I will rebel against every single preconception and box people try to put me in,” she asserts. So she has ditched the teenage angst of her debut, but also the poise of its follow-up. This is an album about finding oneself through the noise of fame. On the track Misunderstood, she laughs at the people who told her she would “never make it on her own.”
Starr’s journey from a teenager posting covers on YouTube to a global superstar has been marked by a refusal to compromise. Her recent health challenges have only served to reinforce her commitment to her craft. She views her career as a marathon, not a sprint, and she is prepared for the long haul. The recovery from her surgery has been a period of reflection, allowing her to appreciate the platform she has built and the influence she wields.
As she looks toward the future, Starr remains focused on her artistic evolution. She is constantly seeking new sounds, new collaborators, and new ways to challenge her audience. Whether she is teasing a legend like Stevie Wonder or navigating the complexities of a high-profile career, she does so with a sense of purpose. For Ayra Starr, the music is not just a career; it is a declaration of existence, a way to occupy space, and a means to inspire others to do the same.
It’s all too easy to settle for an imperfect partner because they’re a comfortable and familiar presence.
Starr isn’t just a musical prodigy – she studied for a degree in International Relations and Political Science at the age of 14
” Give me some fun / Pure enjoyment / Take a photo of me,” she sings in Yoraba.
Leaving Lagos was a big upheaval, she confessed in an essay posted to her Substack last year.
This is an album about walking to her own rhythm, as Starr grows into autonomy and womanhood.
The 24-year-old became the first Afrobeats artist to play Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in 2024
The most infectious song on the album is Ms Paper, which takes a detour into Bouyon â a Dominican music characterised by high tempos and frantic percussion.
It was recorded almost by accident at the end of a session with French-Congolese star Theodora on a hot and sticky February night in LA.
They’d actually finished working for the day, and had just polished off a boozy dinner of Congolese food when inspiration struck.
“The AC in the studio wasn’t working, so everybody’s delirious, everybody’s sweating, everybody’s drunk,” Starr says.
“At one point we’re probably taking off tops.
I changed outfit twice because I was drenched in sweat.”
Live snippets of the song have already gone viral, suggesting Starr has another hefty hit on her hands.
“People have a certain template they think I should follow, and it’s like, you cannot tell me how to dream,” she says.
Starr answers her critics, in a roundabout way, on her album cover – where she pairs a club-ready gold dress with a traditional gele headwrap.
The musician’s album cover has been a conversation starter
“I wanted young girls in Kwara State or Erin-Ile to see this and feel represented,” she told Capital Xtra, external.
Starr’s stunning, retro-futuristic look has gone viral, inspiring dozens of copycats, and tempering at least some of the criticism of her new direction.
I think I need to listen to myself more because I have all the answers in my music.”
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Ayra Starr becomes first woman to win Mobo best African music award in 16 years
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