''Ayra Starr'' is the

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

by Nigerian singer-songwriter

Ayra Starr Sarah Oyinkansola Aderibigbe (born 14 June 2002), known professionally as Ayra Starr, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter born in Benin Republic. She achieved mainstream international recognition in 2022, with the release of her hit song "Ru ...

. It was released on 22 January 2021 through

Mavin Records Mavin Records (also known as the Supreme Mavin Dynasty) is a Nigerian corporation and record label founded by record producer and recording artist Don Jazzy on 8 May 2012. The label's inception came to fruition following the closure of Mo' Hits R ...

. After covering several songs by popular artists on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, Ayra Starr posted her first original song on her page in December 2019. This brought her to the attention of record executive

Don Jazzy Michael Collins Ajereh (born 26 November 1982), known professionally as Don Jazzy, is a Nigerian music executive, record producer, singer, songwriter, businessman, and philanthropist. He founded the record label Mavin Records in 2012, as a sub ...

. She signed her first

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with Mavin Records, Jazzy's record label and began working on the EP in January 2020. Ayra Starr collaborated with producers Louddaaa, Dayogrey and Don Jazzy, on the record, and co-wrote four of its songs with her brother. Musically, the EP combines elements of R&B and

neo-soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contem ...

with

Afropop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop, Afro pop or African pop) can be defined as any African music, regardless of genre, that uses Western pop musical instruments, such as the guitar, piano, trumpet, etc.Olabode, O. (2023, J ...

percussive A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

rhythms. Lyrically, it touches on themes relating to teenage angst,

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

and

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

experiences. ''Ayra Starr'' received generally favorable reviews from critics. It reached number 1 on Nigeria

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and peaked atop the

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

charts of countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Gambia. It spawned the hit song "

Away Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair * ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by Gerard Oms * ''Away'' (TV series ...

," which charted at 4 on the ''TurnTable'' Top 50.

Background and release

Ayra Starr began posting cover recordings of songs by artists like

Andra Day Cassandra Monique Batie (born December 30, 1984), known professionally as Andra Day, is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Children's and Family Emmy ...

and

2Baba Innocent Ujah Idibia MON (; born 18 September 1975), known by his stage name 2Baba and formerly as 2Face Idibia, is a Nigerian singer-songwriter, record producer and philanthropist known for his solo debut album, '' Face 2 Face''. He is regard ...

online in 2019. Though she had a strong following at the time, her career did not officially start until she posted her first original work on

. The song quickly received thousands of views on the

social networking A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...

platform and caught the attention of record executive and producer

who signed her to

. Ayra Starr drew inspiration from artists like

Lijadu Sisters Kehinde Lijadu (22 October 1948 – 9 November 2019) and Taiwo Lijadu (born 22 October 1948) were identical twin sisters from Nigeria who performed as the Lijadu Sisters from the mid-1960s to the 1980s. They achieved success in Nigeria, and als ...

, and

Wande Coal Oluwatobi Wande Ojosipe (born 18 October 1985), popularly known as Wande Coal, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Early life Wande Coal was born on 18 October 1985 in Lagos Island, Lagos state, Nigeria, to Chief Ibukun Olufunto and Omolara ...

. In January 2020, she began working on a debut project at Mavin Studios with producers Louddaaa, Dayogrey and Don Jazzy. She revealed in an interview that her intention with the album was to make music that would resonate with both young and old listeners. Ikon, Louddaaa and

Johnny Drille 'Johnny Drille (born John Ighodaro; 5 July 1990) is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and music producer. He rose to prominence in 2015 after releasing a cover of Di’Ja’s song "Awww", which attracted the attention of Don Jazzy, the founder of M ...

handled the mixing and mastering process. Of the five songs on the EP, Ayra Starr wrote one and co-wrote the remaining four with her brother Dami. On 22 January 2021, the EP, along with the music video for its first track "

" was released to

digital music Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samp ...

streaming service Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

Music and lyrics

''Ayra Starr'' is a five-track set containing a mixture of

introspective ''Introspective'' is the third studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 10 October 1988 by Parlophone. It received generally positive reviews from critics. Background The album was unusual in that it reversed the typic ...

and

emotional Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

lyrics, exploring themes of

infatuation Infatuation, also known as being smitten, is the personal state of being overly driven by an uninformed or otherwise unreasonable passion, usually towards another person for whom one has developed strong Romantic love, romantic or sexual feelin ...

s, heartbreaks and

empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

from the teen viewpoint. It primarily features elements of R&B with

, and incorporates

rhythms. Commenting on the EP's sound, Ayra Starr said: The EP begins with "

", an R&B-styled song in which Ayra Starr sends a message to an ex-lover to refrain from attempting to rekindle their love affair. The second track, "Ija" is an

uptempo A variety of musical terms is encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings ...

– neosoul tune backed by lush

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

chords. The title translates as "Fight" in English. Lyrically, "Ija" is about owning one's

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. The influence of trap can be heard on "DITR," which discusses "the

of the modern-day teenager—experimenting with drugs,

peer pressure Peer pressure is a direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests and experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, religion and beh ...

, and all the experiences that teenagers face." The fourth song on the EP "Sare," meaning "Run", is an

track that contains a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

from the 1979 song "Orere Elejigbo" by

. The lyrics express romantic love, as the singer tells her lover "I want your love so don't run away." The EP closes with a

mid-tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given composition, and is often also an indication of the composition's character or atmos ...

, romantic piece called "Memories." Ayra Starr is found "craving for longer moments, as she assures her love interest of sustained presence."

Reception and commercial performance

''Ayra Starr'' was met with generally favorable reviews from critics. Motolani Alake of the ''Pulse Nigeria'' described the EP as "a topsy-turvy chronicle of love or love-themed situations." Alake noted that the EP also "feels like

Wizkid Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990), better known as Wizkid, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. Born in the Ojuelegba suburb of Surulere, Lagos, Wizkid is a voice in the emerging Afrobeats movement. His music is a blend of Afrobea ...

-esque

experimental Afro-pop." In a review for

TooXclusive tooXclusive is a Nigerian music and review website. Launched in 2010 by Olutayo "Tyler" Duncan Sotubo. This website is notable for organizing its yearly tooXclusive Online Music Awards. They pride their establishment as the number one source f ...

, Chiamaka Fidelis praised Ayra Starr for her "beautiful voice" and "exceptional songwriting skills." Timi Sotire, writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', complimented Ayra Starr's

lyricism Lyricism is a term used to describe a piece of art considered to have deep emotions. Its origin is found in the word ''lyric'', derived via Latin ' from the Greek ('), the adjectival form of ''lyre''. It is often employed to relate to the capab ...

on the album and called it "a collection of her raw, unfiltered thoughts". NativeMag's Tami Makinde concluded that the "vulnerability in her music creates something that sonically feels like a late-night conversation with your homegirls – familiar and new all at the same time." The EP reached number 1 on

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and peaked atop the

charts of countries including Nigeria,

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

and had accumulated over 11 million streams by March 2021. It spawned the hit song "

," which charted at 4 on the ''TurnTable'' Top 50.

Track listing

Sample credits * "Sare" samples "Orere Elejigbo" by

References

{{Mavin Records 2021 debut EPs Contemporary R&B EPs Yoruba-language albums Neo soul EPs Afro pop music albums Albums produced by Don Jazzy Mavin Records EPs Albums produced by Louddaaa