"Bloody Samaritan" is a song recorded 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 30 July 2021, as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from her debut studio album, '' 19 & Dangerous'' (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 ...

. Prior to its arrival on

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platforms, the song premiered on

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

. Written by Ayra Starr and produced by

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, it is an Afropop song with empowering lyrics about pursuing one's dreams despite detractors and other people's negative opinions. "Bloody Samaritan" received positive reception for its message and production. It peaked atop Nigeria's ''TurnTable'' Top 50, making Ayra Starr the first female artist in the history of the chart to reach number-one with a solo song. Outside Nigeria, it peaked at number 4 on the Afrobeats Singles Chart in the UK.

Background

During the week of 11 July 2021, Ayra Starr announced plans to release her debut studio album. On 19 July, she posted the

teaser trailer A teaser trailer, also shortened to teaser, is a short trailer (promotion), trailer and a form of teaser campaign advertising that focuses on film and television programming. It is a videography pre-release film or television show advertisement. Sh ...

for the new album on social media, revealing the title as ''19 & Dangerous'' and its release date to be 6 August. In the same teaser, an excerpt of a 2001

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

interview can be heard, in which Kitt states:

Life is not problematical. We make it problematical, because we are all listening to someone else, to something, without listening to ourselves. We cover up our lives with insignificant things that have no value at all.

On 27 July, Ayra Starr announced "Bloody Samaritan" as the album's lead single along with a release date of 30 July 2021. The song premiered on

on 28 July 2021. After its premiere, Ayra Starr uploaded a 22-second video clip onto Twitter of her listening to the song with producer

in a recording studio. She stated in an interview that she was inspired to write the song while she was feeling "very sort of pressured by society and all that." The track was mixed and mastered by Johnny Drille.

Production and composition

"Bloody Samaritan" was written by Ayra Starr and produced by

. Of the 11 songs on the album, it was the longest to complete, taking up five months of writing and recording. Ayra Starr said in an interview with '' Clash'' that the song was "very challenging" and "very hard to make." "Bloody Samaritan" is an Afropop song, with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, neo-soul and EDM-influenced instrumentation. The song is three minutes and seven seconds in length. In terms of

musical notation Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a piece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The proce ...

, the song was composed using common time, performed in the key of

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. The G natural minor scale is: Changes n ...

, with a moderate

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 musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 105

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. It features a basic

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

of G♯m-C♯m⁷-Emaj⁷. According to Ayra Starr, "Bloody Samaritan" is a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

for disingenuous concern for others. She revealed that " hewas unapologetic and assertive on it – something people erage often struggle to be, and hewant erfans to feel that way when they listen to it, liberated of societal standards and expectations." In an interview with NotJustOk, she stated that in the middle of the chorus, "Na my pastor say I be my healer, everything I desire I go receive", she was affirming herself as the controller of her own fate. She said, "Like I'm now my own healer and my destiny, my life is not in the hands of my pastor, it's just between me and God. So if I don't believe it, it wouldn't happen."

Critical reception

Alphonse Pierre of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' found that "Bloody Samaritan" while fundamentally Afropop exhibits influences from neo-soul and

freestyle rap Freestyle rap, also simply known as Freestyle, is a style of hip hop music where an artist normally improvises an unwritten verse from the head, with or without instrumental beats, in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure ...

. Pierre complimented the song's "catchy" production and Ayra Starr's vocal delivery and noted it as "the type of song where the prominence of each element depends on where you are." ''

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 ...

''s Sophie Williams said the song "hinges on this unshakable confidence, full of vivid, bolshy kiss-offs to the haters, wondering how to be someone they’ll envy for eternity."

Kelly Rowland remix

A remix of the song featuring American singer

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling gir ...

was released on September 28, 2022. A performance video was also released, featuring the two singers.

Sun-El Musician remix

A remix of the song featuring South African DJ Sun-El Musician was released on June 15, 2022.

Music videos

Two music videos were shot to promote "Bloody Samaritan". The first featured the singer performing the song alongside a violin player and a saxophone player. The second video was directed by Starr herself and Loup Garou who previously directed her single, " Away." It was released through Starr's official YouTube channel on 31 August 2021, and marked her directorial debut. The video was made on a much lower budget than Starr's previous music videos. On its concept, Starr said in an interview with ''Clash'': "I just want people to see my personality. No need for stories. No need for somebody to bring a knife and bring it like being bloody or being the vibe. I don't want any literal meaning."

Credits and personnel

– vocals, songwriting *

– production * Johnny Drille – mixing, mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

References

External links

* {{Ayra Starr 2021 singles 2021 songs Ayra Starr songs Afrobeats songs Number-one singles in Nigeria