Nigerian-Beninese Musican, Ayra Starr has previously talked about the themes behind her sophomore album, “The Year I Turned 21.”
But last week, the now-twenty-two-year-old let the cat out of the musical bag, revealing a more detailed picture of its emotional and creative journey.
Posing for British lifestyle magazine, Dazed, in a red wool fringed coat, she disclosed that unlike her debut album, “19 & Dangerous,” which she curated by simply observing her friends’ lives, “The Year I Turned 21” made her hit a blank page.
“I realized that I couldn’t write about myself. I’m used to writing about people’s experiences… it takes a lot of vulnerability to write about yourself,” she told Dazed.
Starr attributed the challenge to her hectic schedule over the past two years, which left little room for personal reflection. “There were no boys to write about. There was nothing,” she said, noting how the constant cycle of work left her disconnected from her usual sources of inspiration.
That is, until two moments completely reshaped her approach.
The first was a helping hand from her friend Leon Thomas III, (from “Victorious”), while on her recent Barbados trip. After a month of chit-chatting in the studio, she received a song gift from him named “21.”
“It made me see myself. I remember crying when I heard it. I recorded it, changed parts, and made it my own. After that song, I understood everything I was making,” she recalled.
The second moment of clarity came from Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who advised her to find a cohesive theme for her album. Martin gave Starr a book by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi and encouraged her to fill the “blank space” in her work with meaningful content. “He drew a diagram for me on the first page…in the middle of his diagram, he wrote ’21’.” It was then, she says, that she knew what her new album needed and its contents.
On May 30, 2024, she released the 15-track album featuring collaborations with Giveon and Asake, including standout tracks “21” and “1942,” both born from these transformative experiences. Fast forward to present-day September 2024, and the album is already proving to be her most successful to date.
Starr made history as the first Nigerian artist to debut on the Billboard 200, and the album broke the record for the most Spotify streams for a Nigerian artist on release day, with 1.2 million streams.
And for that, she has herself, and her friends—Leon and Chris—to thank.
Catch the full interview here.