I’m taking my power back – Ayra Starr

By Ayo Onikoyi

Nigerian singer Ayra Starr has opened up about the personal journey behind her latest album, StarrGirl, revealing that the project represents a period of self-acceptance, freedom and taking control of her own narrative.

The singer made this known while speaking with Nadeska Alexis on Apple Music, where she reflected on the different phases of her career and how each album has captured a different stage of her life.

Reflecting on her evolution from her debut album, 19 & Dangerous, to The Year I Turned 21 and now Starr Girl, Ayra Starr said she has always considered herself confident and headstrong, but acknowledged that external expectations can sometimes make people question themselves.

“I have always been confident and headstrong but at the same time there are lots of systems that will make one forget that or make one a bit doubtful. My second album was me trying to prove a point 19 and Dangerous because everyone has to know. And The Year I Turned Twenty was me explaining. It was the phase in my life. One thing about me is that I am very happy I am able to make music phases and different places where I am at.”

For the singer, Starr Girl represents another phase, but this time, she is less interested in proving a point or explaining herself and more focused on embracing who she is.

“So with this album is literally the same thing. It feels good to be who I am. I am comfortable. There are lots of systems that make one feel one shouldn’t be comfortable. Trying to put one in a box or to tell one what one should be. For me it’s just taking my power back and saying I love who I am sorry.”

That idea of reclaiming her power is central to the way Ayra Starr describes this latest chapter of her career.

After 19 & Dangerous introduced her as a young artiste determined to make her mark, and The Year I Turned 21 captured another stage of her personal and artistic development, Starr Girl finds her embracing the freedom to simply be herself.