Ayra Starr: The Life Story Behind the Afrobeats Young Star

Ayra Starr arrived in Nigerian music like a door opening in a quiet house. She was very young, she sang in a voice that sounded older than her years, and she carried a confidence that made people stop and listen. In a scene full of loud names and long careers, she did not wait for permission. She posted songs, she was noticed, and within a short time her music was playing far beyond Lagos, in cars, clubs, and headphones in countries she had never visited.

Her rise felt fast from the outside, yet it was built on years of singing at home, writing in notebooks, and learning how to turn feelings into short, sharp lines. She grew up between two countries, Benin and Nigeria, and that movement between places shaped the way she sings. Her songs mix English with Yoruba and Pidgin, and they move between softness and boldness in the same breath. One line can sound like a whisper to a friend, and the next can sound like a challenge to the whole room.

What draws people to Ayra Starr is not only her voice. It is her attitude. Her songs talk about growing up, wanting more, refusing to be small, and enjoying life on her own terms. Young listeners hear their own thoughts in her words, and older listeners hear a new generation speaking clearly. This is the story of a teenager who became one of the brightest young stars in Afrobeats, and of how she kept her voice her own while the world grew louder around her.

A Childhood Between Cotonou and Lagos

Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe, known to the world as Ayra Starr, was born on 14 June 2002 in Cotonou, Benin. Her family later moved to Lagos, Nigeria, where she spent much of her childhood. Lagos is a loud, crowded, fast city, and growing up there means learning early how to be heard. Markets, traffic, music from every corner, and people chasing their own dreams fill the streets, and a child in that city learns that life moves quickly and that you must keep up.

She was raised in a family where music was close at hand. Her mother had once sung, and songs were part of home life rather than something distant. Ayra listened to the music around her, from Nigerian sounds to music from other parts of the world, and she began to sing along. She did not grow up in a recording studio. She grew up in a normal home, going to school, helping at home, and dreaming in the way many children do, without yet knowing how a dream becomes a job.

As a young girl she showed a strong interest in performing. She took part in school activities, and she was drawn to fashion and modelling as well as singing. Those early interests mattered, because they taught her how to stand in front of people and not be afraid. A singer needs more than a voice. She needs the courage to be looked at, to be judged, and to keep going when the judgment is harsh. Ayra learned that courage young, in small rooms, long before big stages.

Her brother was also musical, and the two of them shared songs and ideas at home. Family support can make a real difference for a young artist, because the early years are full of doubt. There is no money, no fame, and no promise that anything will work. A family that listens, that encourages, and that believes in a child’s gift gives that child a place to grow. Ayra had that kind of home, and it showed in the way she later spoke about her family with warmth and pride.

School was part of her life too, and she attended schools in Lagos before moving on to university studies. Education gave her a sense of order, and it gave her something to fall back on while music was still only a hope. Many young singers leave school early to chase fame, and some of them regret it later. Ayra kept learning while she sang, and that balance helped her stay steady when fame arrived so fast.

The move between Benin and Nigeria also gave her a wider view of the world than a child who stays in one place. She learned that home can be more than one city, and that identity can hold more than one language and more than one culture. That feeling runs through her music, which never sounds trapped in one place. Her songs belong to Lagos, but they also belong to any young person who has moved, changed, and tried to find where they fit.

Singing at Home and Finding Her Voice Online

Before any record label knew her name, Ayra Starr was singing in her own way and sharing it with the small audience she could reach. She posted covers of popular songs on social media, singing them in her own style, and people began to notice the quality of her voice. It was clear, strong, and full of feeling, and it did not sound like an imitation of someone else. She sang with a natural ease, as if the song belonged to her even when it had been written by another artist.

Social media changed the path for young singers in Nigeria. In the past, a singer needed to know someone in the music industry, or to be seen at a live show by the right person. Now a phone and an internet connection could carry a voice to thousands of people in a single day. Ayra understood that new path, and she used it well. She did not wait for a studio to find her. She put her voice where people could hear it, and she let the audience decide.

She also began to write her own songs. Writing is a different skill from singing, and it is the skill that separates a singer who performs other people’s songs from an artist who has something of her own to say. Her early writing was direct and honest, full of the feelings of a teenager growing up fast: wanting freedom, wanting love, wanting respect, and wanting to be taken seriously. She wrote in short lines that were easy to remember, and that gift for a memorable line would later become one of her greatest strengths.

At this stage she was also modelling, and she appeared in fashion work that gave her confidence in front of a camera. Modelling taught her how to present herself, how to hold a pose, and how to understand that image is part of being a public artist. Some singers dislike that side of fame, but Ayra seemed comfortable with it. She liked fashion, she liked colour, and she liked the idea that a young woman could be both strong and beautiful on her own terms.

Her family continued to support her, and her mother in particular was an important voice in her early decisions. A young artist needs guidance, because the music industry can be confusing and sometimes unfair. Having family close by helped Ayra make choices with care rather than rushing into anything that looked like a chance. That patience paid off, because when the real chance came, she was ready for it, and she had a voice and a set of songs that were truly her own.

The turning point came when her work reached Don Jazzy, the founder of Mavin Records, one of Nigeria’s most important record labels. He saw her videos and heard something in her voice that made him want to meet her. For a young singer in Lagos, a call from Mavin Records is a moment that changes everything. It means that the years of singing at home, posting online, and hoping someone would listen have finally been answered.

Joining Mavin Records and the First EP

In 2020, Ayra Starr signed with Mavin Records, and her life changed in a matter of months. She was still a teenager, and she was now part of a label that had helped build the careers of some of Nigeria’s biggest stars. The label gave her access to producers, songwriters, studios, and a team that knew how to take a song from a small room to the whole world. But a label can only do so much. The artist still has to bring the songs, the voice, and the will to work.

Her first release with Mavin was a self-titled EP, Ayra Starr, which came out in early 2021. An EP is a short collection of songs, shorter than an album, and it is often used to introduce a new artist to the public. Her EP included the song Away, which quickly became popular, and it showed listeners what kind of artist she was. The songs were young, bold, and full of life, and they mixed Afrobeats with pop and R and B in a way that felt fresh.

Away was a song about leaving a bad relationship and choosing herself, and that message struck a chord with many young listeners. It was not a sad song. It was a song about walking away with pride, and that attitude became part of her public image. She was not singing as a victim. She was singing as a young woman who knew her worth, and that message was powerful for girls and young women who heard it.

The EP also showed that she could sing about different feelings. Some songs were soft and romantic, while others were confident and playful. That range mattered, because it told the industry that she was not a one-song artist. She had a voice that could carry a whole album, and she had ideas that went beyond a single hit. Critics and fans noticed, and the EP was widely praised as one of the strongest introductions by a young Nigerian artist in years.

Behind the scenes, she was learning how the music industry works. She was recording in professional studios, working with producers who had made hits for other stars, and learning how to shape a song from a first idea to a finished track. She was also learning how to perform for cameras, how to do interviews, and how to handle the attention that comes with being a new star. It was a lot to learn at a young age, and she learned it quickly.

The EP opened doors that had been closed before. Radio stations played her songs, music blogs wrote about her, and fans began to follow her on social media in large numbers. She was no longer a teenager singing covers online. She was Ayra Starr, a signed artist with a real release, and the whole country was watching to see what she would do next.

19 and Dangerous and the Bloody Samaritan Moment

Later in 2021, Ayra Starr released her first full album, 19 and Dangerous. The title said a great deal about where she was in life. She was nineteen, she was young, and she was not afraid to be bold. The album was a step up from the EP, with more songs, more ideas, and a clearer picture of who she was as an artist. It included Bloody Samaritan, a song that would become one of the biggest hits of her career.

Bloody Samaritan was a song about confidence, about refusing to be brought down by other people’s opinions, and about enjoying life without apology. It had a strong beat, a catchy chorus, and a vocal performance that showed how much she had grown in a short time. The song spread quickly across Nigeria and beyond, and it was played in clubs, on radio, and on social media. It became a kind of anthem for young people who wanted to feel free and strong.

The album also included other songs that showed different sides of her. Some were about love, some were about friendship, and some were about the pressure of growing up in public. She sang about the world she knew, in words that felt real rather than written by someone else. That honesty was one of the reasons the album connected with listeners. She was not pretending to be older or wiser than she was. She was singing as a nineteen-year-old, and that was exactly what made the album feel true.

The success of the album brought her awards attention and a growing fan base outside Nigeria. Afrobeats was becoming a global sound, and Ayra was part of the new wave of young Nigerian artists who were taking that sound to the world. She performed at shows, she travelled, and she began to meet fans in other countries who knew her songs by heart. For a young woman who had started by singing at home in Lagos, that must have felt like a dream coming true.

The album also changed the way the industry saw her. She was no longer a promising newcomer. She was a star with a hit album, and labels, promoters, and other artists wanted to work with her. She handled that attention with a calm that surprised many people, because she was still very young. She spoke about her music with confidence, she knew what she liked, and she did not let other people decide her sound for her.

In the years that followed, 19 and Dangerous became a landmark in her story. It was the album that proved she could do more than one good song, and it gave her a foundation for everything that came after. A first album is a test, and she passed it with a record that still sounds fresh years later.

Rush, the World Stage, and a Grammy Nomination

In 2022, Ayra Starr released Rush, a song that took her career to a new level. Rush was about wanting more from life, about working hard, and about refusing to settle for less. The chorus was simple and easy to sing along to, and the beat was made for dancing. The song spread far beyond Nigeria, and it became one of the most popular Afrobeats songs of the year. People in many countries danced to it, made videos to it, and sang it even when English was not their first language.

Rush brought her a Grammy nomination, in the Best African Music Performance category, which was a major moment for a young artist. The Grammy Awards are among the most famous music awards in the world, and a nomination means that the music industry in the United States has noticed your work. For Ayra, it was a sign that her music had crossed from Nigerian fame to world fame. She did not win that time, but the nomination itself changed how people spoke about her. She was now a global artist, not only a Nigerian star.

She also began to work with artists from other countries, and those collaborations brought her music to new audiences. She sang on songs with international stars, and she performed at festivals and shows in Europe and the United States. Each performance taught her something new about how to hold a large stage, how to connect with a crowd that might not know her language, and how to let the music do the talking.

Her style also became a talking point. She wore bold clothes, bright colours, and short skirts, and she spoke openly about feeling free in her body and her choices. Some people praised her confidence, while others criticised her, and she answered that criticism by continuing to be herself. She said, in her own way, that a young woman should be allowed to dress and dance as she likes, and that her talent was what mattered most. That stance won her many young fans who saw her as a voice for their own freedom.

During this period she also released more music, including songs that kept her name on the charts. She did not disappear after one hit. She kept working, kept recording, and kept performing, and that steady work kept her career moving forward. A hit song can make a star for a year, but only steady work can make a career that lasts, and Ayra seemed to understand that early.

The world stage brought new pressures too. Travel, long hours, interviews in different time zones, and the need to be always ready can wear down even the strongest artist. She handled it by keeping her family close, by staying connected to her roots, and by remembering where she started. Fame had changed her life, but it had not changed the voice that made her famous in the first place.

The Year I Turned 21 and Growing Up in Public

In 2024, Ayra Starr released her second album, The Year I Turned 21, a record that marked a new stage in her life. The title pointed to a simple truth: she was no longer a teenager. She was a young woman in her early twenties, thinking about love, work, family, and the future in a deeper way. The album sounded more mature, with songs that were more personal and more reflective, even while they kept the energy and joy of her earlier work.

The album included collaborations with artists from Nigeria and from other parts of the world, and it showed how far her reach had grown. She was now working with people she had once only admired from a distance, and she held her own beside them. The songs dealt with growing up, with the pressure to succeed, with relationships that did not work, and with the joy of knowing who you are. It was an album that asked listeners to grow with her, rather than expecting her to stay the same.

Growing up in public is one of the hardest parts of being a young star. Every change in style, every new song, and every interview is watched and judged by millions of people. Some fans want an artist to stay young forever, while others want her to change. Ayra had to find her own path between those two demands, and she did it by being honest about where she was in life. She did not pretend to be a teenager when she was not, and she did not pretend to have all the answers when she was still learning.

The album was well received, and it kept her place among the leading young voices in Afrobeats. It also showed that she was thinking about her career in the long term. A second album is a test of whether an artist can last, and she passed it by making a record that sounded like growth rather than repetition. She was not copying her first album. She was building on it, and that is what a real artist does.

Away from music, she continued to be a fashion figure, appearing at events and in campaigns that showed her sense of style. Fashion gave her another way to express herself, and it brought her to audiences who might not have found her through music alone. She used that platform with care, choosing work that fit her image and her values, and she became known as one of the most stylish young stars in African music.

She also spoke more openly about the pressures of fame, about the need for rest, and about the importance of family. Those words mattered, because many young fans look to stars for guidance on how to handle pressure. By speaking honestly, she showed them that even a successful singer needs time to rest, needs people she trusts, and needs to protect her peace.

Setbacks, Criticism, and Staying Steady

Ayra Starr’s rise has not been free of difficulty. Fame brings praise, but it also brings criticism, and a young woman in the public eye often faces more criticism than a young man in the same place. Some people judged her clothes, some judged her dancing, and some judged her words, as if a singer must please everyone to be worthy of success. She faced that judgment with a firm answer: her body, her clothes, and her choices were her own, and her music was the real measure of her work.

There were also the normal pressures of a fast career. She had to work long hours, travel often, and keep producing new music while the public expected more. That kind of pressure can tire an artist, and it can make the work feel less joyful. She has spoken about needing time to rest and about learning to say no when she needs to. Those are hard lessons for a young star, because the industry often rewards those who never stop, even when stopping is what keeps the work good.

She has also faced the challenge of being compared with other young stars. The music world loves to compare, to rank, and to ask who is the best, and those comparisons can be unfair. Each artist has a different voice, a different story, and a different path, and comparing them as if they are the same misses what makes each one special. Ayra has handled those comparisons by focusing on her own work, rather than by answering every claim about who is ahead.

There were moments when songs did not reach the same heights as Rush or Bloody Samaritan, and that is normal in any career. Not every song can be a huge hit, and an artist who expects every release to break records will soon be disappointed. She kept releasing music, kept performing, and kept learning, and that steady approach kept her career healthy even when a single song did not go as far as hoped.

Her family has remained an important anchor through these pressures. She has spoken with love about her mother and her siblings, and about how home keeps her grounded. When the world is loud, a quiet home, a family meal, and a conversation with people who knew you before fame can bring a person back to herself. Ayra has kept that connection, and it shows in the way she talks about her life.

She has also learned to protect her privacy. She shares a great deal through her music and her public image, but she does not share everything, and that boundary is wise. A young star who shares too much can lose the space she needs to grow, while a star who shares nothing can feel distant. Ayra has found a balance, sharing enough to stay close to her fans while keeping enough for herself.

Today, Influence, and What Comes Next

Today Ayra Starr stands as one of the most important young voices in Afrobeats, and her influence reaches far beyond Nigeria. Young singers look to her as proof that a teenager from Lagos can reach the world with her own songs. Young women look to her as proof that confidence is not something to hide. And music fans around the world look to her as a sign that Afrobeats is not a passing trend, but a lasting sound with many different voices.

Her influence is not only in her songs. It is in the way she carries herself, in the way she speaks about freedom, and in the way she refuses to shrink to fit other people’s ideas of what a young woman should be. She has shown that a star can be bold and kind, confident and hardworking, stylish and serious about her craft. Those qualities are why her fans stay loyal, and why new fans keep finding her music.

She continues to perform, to record, and to work with other artists, and her career is still young. She has many years ahead of her, and the choices she makes now will shape the artist she becomes. If she keeps writing honestly, keeps working with care, and keeps her voice her own, she has the chance to become one of the defining artists of her generation, not only in Nigeria but in the world.

Her story also matters for Nigerian music as a whole. She is part of a generation that has taken Afrobeats from Lagos clubs to world stages, and that generation has changed how the world hears African music. Ayra is one of the youngest voices in that movement, and her success shows that the movement is not finished. New voices are still coming, and they are still finding new ways to sing about life, love, and freedom.

For readers who are just discovering her, the best place to start is with her albums, from the first EP to The Year I Turned 21, and with the songs that made her famous, from Away and Bloody Samaritan to Rush. Those songs tell her story in her own words, and they show how a young singer grew into a global star. The rest of her story is still being written, and that is part of what makes it so exciting to follow.

My Take:

When I listen to Ayra Starr, I do not first think about charts or awards. I think about how young she was when she started, and how clear her voice sounded even then. A teenager can sing well, but it is rare for a teenager to sing with a sense of self. Ayra had that sense of self from the start. She did not sound like she was trying to be someone else. She sounded like a girl who knew what she wanted to say, and who was not going to wait until she was older to say it. That is what stays with me.

I admire the way she treats confidence as a subject, not as a show. In Bloody Samaritan, she is not boasting for the sake of it. She is saying that other people’s opinions should not decide how she lives. I have heard many songs about confidence that sound empty, because the singer is only repeating a slogan. Ayra’s songs do not sound empty to me. They sound like they come from a real place, from a young woman who has been judged, who has been talked about, and who has decided to keep going anyway. That is a useful message, and it is one that young listeners need to hear in plain words.

I also think about the distance she travelled, not only in miles but in life. She was born in Benin, grew up in Lagos, and then sang for people in countries she had never seen. That kind of travel changes a person. It can make you lose yourself, because every new place wants something different from you. Ayra seems to have held on to herself through that travel. Her songs still sound Nigerian. Her language still mixes English with Yoruba and Pidgin. She did not drop her home to please a new audience. She carried her home with her, and that is why her music feels honest.

What I find most interesting is how she handles being watched. A young woman who sings, dances, and dresses boldly will always be judged more harshly than a young man who does the same. I have seen that judgment in the way people talk about her clothes, as if a skirt could tell you whether a singer is serious. I think that judgment says more about the people judging than about Ayra. She answers it not by arguing every day, but by working. She releases music, she performs, she grows, and the work speaks louder than the talk about her clothes. I respect that answer, because it is calm and it is strong at the same time.

I think about her mother and her family often when I think about her career. A young star needs people who knew her before the fame, people who can tell her the truth when everyone else is only praising her. Ayra seems to have that kind of family. She speaks about them with warmth, and she does not sound like someone who has forgotten where she came from. That matters to me, because fame can pull a person away from home very fast. The artists who last are often the ones who keep one foot at home, even while they travel the world.

Her song Rush is a good example of what she does best. The words are simple. She wants more, she is working, she will not settle. Anyone can understand that. A student, a worker, a young person starting a business, a mother trying to build a better life, they can all hear their own wish in that song. That is the gift of a simple chorus. It does not need long words or clever tricks. It needs a true feeling, said clearly, over a beat that makes you move. Ayra has that gift, and I think it is rarer than people think.

I also admire her patience with her own growth. She did not try to make her second album sound exactly like her first. The Year I Turned 21 sounds like a person who has lived a little more, who has loved and lost a little more, and who is thinking more deeply. Some artists are afraid to grow, because they fear losing the fans who loved their first songs. Ayra grew anyway, and she trusted her fans to grow with her. I think that trust is a brave choice, and it is the choice that turns a young star into a lasting artist.

If I am honest, I do not love every song she has made equally. Some of her later songs feel lighter to me, as if they were made to keep up with the speed of the charts rather than to say something lasting. That is not a harsh judgment. It is the normal pressure of the music world, where a new song is needed every few weeks and the public moves on fast. I would like to hear her take more time with some songs, to let them breathe, to write a few more lines that only she could write. But I also understand why she works fast. She is young, the world is listening, and she wants to use the moment.

I think about the Grammy nomination, and what it meant. A nomination does not make a singer better, and not winning does not make her worse. But a nomination does tell a young artist that the world is watching, and that her music has crossed a border. For Ayra, that border was between Nigerian fame and world fame. She crossed it at an age when most people are still deciding what to study. I find that remarkable, and I also find it a little frightening, because fame at that age can be heavy. She has carried it well, and I hope she keeps the people around her who help her carry it.

There is something I want to say about her voice itself. It is not the biggest voice in Afrobeats, and it is not the loudest. It is a voice that is clear, warm, and full of feeling. When she sings a soft line, I can hear every word. When she sings a strong line, I can feel the push behind it. She does not need to shout to be heard. That control is a sign of a real singer, and it is one of the reasons her songs work on radio, in clubs, and in quiet moments as well.

I also think she matters for girls who are growing up now. A girl who sees Ayra on a stage, singing boldly, dressing as she likes, and speaking her mind, learns that she does not have to be small to be loved. That lesson is worth more than any hit song. It is a lesson about freedom, and it is one that many girls do not hear often enough. Ayra teaches it not by giving a speech, but by living it in public, and that is a stronger way to teach.

When I compare her with other young stars, I see a difference in how she writes. Her lines are short, direct, and easy to remember. She does not hide behind long, complicated words. She says what she means, and she says it in a way that a listener can repeat the next day. That is a skill, and it is one that songwriters spend years learning. She learned it young, and it has served her well.

I wonder what she will sound like in ten years. I hope she sounds like herself, only deeper. I hope she writes songs about the life she will have lived by then, about love that lasts, about work that is hard, about home and about the world. I hope she does not let the music industry turn her into a copy of herself. The best artists change, and they surprise their fans, and they keep the core of who they are while they grow. I believe Ayra can do that, if she keeps writing honestly and keeps choosing her own path.

Her story also reminds me that talent needs a place to be seen. If she had not posted her songs online, if Don Jazzy had not seen them, if Mavin had not given her a chance, her voice might have stayed in a small room in Lagos. That is true for many talented people. They need one person to listen, one door to open, and one chance to show what they can do. Ayra found that chance, and she used it fully. I think young people should remember that. Do not wait for a perfect moment. Put your work where people can find it, and keep making it better.

In the end, I think Ayra Starr is a singer who arrived early and stayed honest. She did not pretend to be older than she was, she did not hide her confidence, and she did not leave her home behind to please the world. She brought her home with her, she sang in her own voice, and she let the world come to her. That is a simple story, but it is not an easy one to live. I admire her for living it, and I will keep listening to see where her voice takes her next.

I also want to say something about the way she works with other artists. A collaboration can show whether a singer is generous or selfish. Some singers take over a song and leave no room for the other voice. Ayra does not do that. When she sings with someone else, she listens, she leaves space, and she lets the song breathe. That generosity makes her a good partner, and it is why other artists want to work with her. It also shows that she is confident enough not to fear sharing a stage. A singer who is afraid will try to win every moment. A singer who is sure of herself can share the moment and still shine.

There is a quieter side to her story that I think about too. She started very young, and starting young means growing up while millions of people watch. That is a strange way to grow up. Most of us make our mistakes in private, and we learn from them without an audience. Ayra has had to learn in public, and that takes a different kind of strength. I hope she has time to rest, time to be with family, and time to live a normal life between the tours and the recordings. A singer is not only a voice. She is a person, and a person needs rest, friendship, and quiet days.

I think her fashion sense is part of her story, not a distraction from it. She uses clothes the way a singer uses a voice, to say something about who she is. Bright colours, bold cuts, and a confident walk are all part of the same message: I am here, I am young, and I am not going to hide. Some people may not like that message, but many young women love it, because they have been told to be quiet and small for a long time. Ayra’s style tells them they do not have to be small. That is a real gift, and it is one that goes beyond music.

Looking at her whole journey, I see a pattern that young artists should study. She started at home, she shared her work online, she found a team that believed in her, she released a short project first, then a full album, then a hit that travelled the world, then a second album that showed growth. Each step was a little bigger than the one before it. She did not try to jump from a bedroom to a world tour in one day. She built her career step by step, and that is why it feels solid. A career built fast can fall fast. A career built step by step has a foundation.

I will keep watching her, not only for the next hit, but for the next honest song. The hits will come and go, as they do for every singer. The honest songs are the ones that stay. Ayra has already written several of those, and I believe she has many more in her. If she keeps her family close, keeps her voice her own, and keeps writing about the life she is actually living, she will not only stay famous. She will become an artist people return to for years, the way they return to the singers who first taught them to feel brave.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was Ayra Starr born?

Ayra Starr was born Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe on 14 June 2002 in Cotonou, Benin, and she grew up largely in Lagos, Nigeria, where her family moved when she was young.

How did Ayra Starr get discovered?

She posted song covers and her own singing on social media, where her voice was noticed by Don Jazzy, the founder of Mavin Records, and she signed with the label in 2020.

What was Ayra Starr’s first big song?

Away, from her self-titled debut EP released in early 2021, was her first widely noticed song, and Bloody Samaritan from her first album later became one of her biggest hits.

Why is Rush so famous?

Rush, released in 2022, has a simple, catchy chorus about wanting more from life, and it spread around the world as a dance hit, earning Ayra a Grammy nomination for Best African Music Performance.

What albums has Ayra Starr released?

She released her debut EP Ayra Starr in 2021, her first album 19 and Dangerous later that year, and her second album The Year I Turned 21 in 2024.

Is Ayra Starr her real name?

No, Ayra Starr is her stage name, and her birth name is Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe.