Table of Contents
Biography
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe popularly known as Ayra Starr was born on 14th June 2002 to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Adebirigbe in Cotonou, Benin. Ayra Starr is a Nigerian singer from Kwara State. Ayra Starr started a fashion career at the age of 16 with Quove Model Management before deciding to pursue her musical career properly. After covering several songs by popular artists on Instagram, she posted her first original song on her page in December 2019. This brought her to the attention of record executive Don Jazzy and led to her signing to Mavin Records.
In early 2021, Ayra Starr achieved mainstream recognition with her nominative appearance 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 mixtape, 19 & Dangerous in August 2021.
Categorized mainly as Afropop and R’nB, 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. Starr debuted on Pandora Predictions chart, and on 28 August 2021, she ranked number three on Billboard’s Next Big Sound.
Ayra Starr achieved International Recognition in 2022, with the release of her hit song “Rush”. The song charted in many territories like Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at Number 36.
With the song, Ayra became the Youngest African Female Artist to surpass 100 million views on a single video on YouTube, and also the first to do so within 5 months. She also set a new record by becoming the only Nigerian Female Artist to have charted a solo song on UK official Singles Chart
| Full Name: | Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe |
| Record Label: | Marvin Record |
| Born: | June 14, 2002 |
| Place of Birth: | Cotonou, Benin |
| Nationality: | Nigerian |
| Height: | 5 feet 10 inches |
| Parents: | Mr. and Mrs. Adebirigbe |
| Siblings: | Dami, Ade, Tolulope and Jesutunmise Aderibigbe |
| Husband• Spouse: | N/A |
| Zodiac sign: Gemini | |
| Children: | N/A |
| Occupation: | Musician |
| Net Worth: | $1.5 million. |
Early Life & Education
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe popularly known as Ayra Starr was born on 14th June 2002 to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Adebirigbe in Cotonou, Benin. Ayra Starr is a Nigerian singer from Kwara State.
Ayra Starr grew up in Cotonou and in Lagos, Nigeria. She was born to Nigerian parents from Kwara State and has four siblings named as follows: Dami, Ade, 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 getting close friends.
Ayra Starr was raised in a music-loving family, her interest in singing comes mostly from her family.
Ayra Starr and Dami started writting songs when she was young with the help of their mother and her aunt. She has always wanted to make career in singing since birth but his father advised her to finish her education first.
At the age of 10, she sang in a high school choir and started writing songs with her brother.
She graduated from the department of international relations and political science in Les Cours Sonou University and holds a BA degree.
During her college years, she was often bullied by her classmates because of her age and appearance.
To counter the feelings, she experienced from being taunted, Ayra Starr turned to music. “I would listen to Nicki Minaj on my way to school, and I’d feel like the second Nicki Minaj.” Ayra Starr’s mother was very supportive of her musical ambitions, and always encouraged her to pursue a singing career.
Ayra Starr said in an interview with local and international media that she had a wide range of musical influences throughout her childhood, including 2Face Idibia, Wande Coal, Angélique Kidjo, Lijadu Sisters, and Tope Alabi, as well as Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Sia, and Tiwa Savage in college. “It was just the strength I would feel listening to their music,” she said, citing Shakira, Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Miley Cyrus as vocal influences.
Personal Life
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe popularly known as Ayra Starr currently do not have any relationship at the moment but according to her she is open for relationship.
Ayra Starr grew up between Benin and Nigeria, she was exposed to different cultures that influenced her perspective on life and her personality. Ayra Starr and her brother Dami started writing songs from a very young age under the tutelage of their mother and aunt.
Ayra Starr has four siblings two brothers and two sisters named Dami, Ade, Tolulope and Jesutunmise.
Ayra Starr stated that she was always being bullied because of her appearance and age which makes her turn to music especially Nicki Minaj’s. Also, Ayra Starr lost her dad in 2018 which make her turn to music. She had to start writing sad songs and tributes to her father as a coping mechanism.
Career
At the age of 16 years old, Ayra Starr was signed into a modeling agency in August 2018 in Lagos. She worked with many brands including the Esperanza Woman wear brand, Complete Fashion Magazine, Mazelle Studio, and so on. Long before Ayra Starr became popular and made her appearance song, she had picked her stage name as “Ayra Starr”. According to her, the stage name represents what she stands for as it means “woke and eye-opening”.
The beautiful singer is passionate about making music that both the adults and young ones can resonate with.
In 2019, Ayra Starr started making covers of songs already produced by many popular singers. She did covers for Andra Day, 2face Idibia songs, and many others.
In December 2019, she appeared in Eri Ife’s music video titled “Dear Future Wife” as a vixen. She uploaded her first song titled “Damage” on her Instagram page.
It was this song that got the attention of the Mavis record boss, Don Jazzy. He started working with Ayra Starr behind the scenes as a result of the video. Not until 2021, when Don Jazzy announced the young female artist as one of the signees of the label record. It was during this period that she released her self-styled album titled “Ayra Starr” in which she collaborated with Ikon, Louddaaa, Johnny Drille, and her brother, Dami.
The EP album which contains 5 tracks was a mixture of many genres including R&B, neo-soul with some Afro-Pop them. Also, the album’s track theme centered on romance, heartbreak, infatuations, and empowerment.
The EP album received a lot of positive feedback and acceptance. Thus, it ranked #1 on Nigeria iTunes and Apple music in almost 5 countries including Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Ghana. Similarly, the EP album “Ayra Starr” recorded over 15 million streams on Spotify, YouTube, and Audio Mack.
Ayra Starr hit song “Away” ranked #4 on Turntable Top 50 and #17 on US Billboard Top Triller Global.
Also, it also ranked #3 on the Billboard Next Big Sound chart. Since then, Ayra Starr has gained a lot of recognition, and this made them to sing her songs in different settings in Nigeria. She performed one of her songs at a show titled The Olori Awards during the UC Berkeley Nigerian Students Association culture show. Similarly, she performed at the 2021 Idol performance season finale show in July, she also performed at the Big Brother Naija Season 6 (BBNaija S6 – Shine Your Eye) in September 2021. Her second album was titled 19 & Dangerous was released on the 6th day of August 2021.
Out of all the album 11 tracks, the song titled “Bloody Samaritan” seems to be the most successful. Apart from Ayra Starr being the lead singer, 19 & Dangerous was contributed by different artists and personnel including Don Jazzy, Ckay, Fousheé, Andre Vibez, and so on.
On March 4, 2023, Ayra Starr announced on social media that her music was used as soundtrack for blockbuster American action movie, Creed.
Net Worth
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe has worked as a Footballer right from youth. she has accumulated a satisfactory fortune from playing football. Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe has an astonished net worth of $1.5 million.
Social Media
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe as beautiful and hardworking as she is discovered that she also has some social media platforms where she can be connected.
- @Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe (@ayrastarr) is her Instagram handle.
- @Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe (@ayrastarr) is her Twitter handle.
