By Emmanuel Daraloye

Marvin-signed artist, Ayra Starr, exudes confidence in her records, her fashion choices, diction during interviews, etc.

On her eponymous EP, she gave the fans a glimpse of some of these attributes. Now, she doles it out in dollops on her new body of work, 19 & Dangerous.

The Nigeria-born artist has been on a roller coaster since she got snapped up by Don Jazzy in the first quarter of 2020. This was two years before she made Instagram her distribution channel, covering songs of 2face, Andra Day and others. She got a DM from Don Jazzy when she uploaded her first original song in December 2019.

Her January 2021 introductory EP, Ayra Starr garnered approximately 25 million streams with critical acclaim from critics.

The journey leapt a few weeks ago with the release of a sequel to the EP, this time around, a full album conceptualized as a transition of a coming of age child.

In Nigeria and most other countries, 18 is regarded as the legal age, for voting, driver’s license, etc. Ayra Starr is a year older than the stipulated adult age. Her experiences so far formed the basis for this 33-minute long play. The collaborations are sparse but she comes fully prepared for the task ahead.

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Louddaa, London, Don Jazzy are some of the producers at the helm of affairs while music star Johnny Drille handles the mixing and mastering of the album.

19 and Dangerous levels up on the previous EP, some of the tracks on this project are a cut from the previous project with added layers: Lonely, Toxic, etc.

Ayra Starr speaks for Gen Z, she encapsulates their stories, their tribulations, she becomes an advocate for their problems. She pleaded for a listening ear from the Millenials, as she did on DITR.

The album begins with a clip of an interview with American Singer, Eartha Kitt:

“Life is not problematic. We make it problematic, 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”.

The opener “Cast” echoes the “ let me live my life mantra” of Earth Kitt. Ayra Starr depicts a carefree attitude to people and side talk, “If I cast I cast”, she drops some motivational fragments at some point in the track. The intro can be referred to as your face kind of song, confrontational, it alludes to the title, Dangerous.

Fashion Killer is preceded by a trajectory of love gone wrong: from “Lonely” to “In Between”, she got stuck in infatuations that swung to heartbreak, drug abuse, depression, and others.

Lonely connects the tracks, the song follows a sequential arrangement, it ends with “Karma”, she finally has a good laugh, it ignites a bittersweet memory, how do you hurt someone you love or become happy in their misery?

In 2018, Ayra Starr got signed up by a modelling agency, on the second track, Fashion Killer, she celebrates her dress sense and her voluptuous backside, she wasn’t mouthing, she had it all figured out. This self-acclamation streak makes a return on “Bridgertn”.

“Bloody Samaritan” is a jazzy and groovy take on naysayers, an update on Cast. The infectious melody is hinged on Lamba, imagery doused in word wordplay.

Ayra Starr ends the album with a detour to folklore on “Amin”, a prayerful and meditative outro.

Truly, Ayra Starr is a star in the making, this album further solidifies her artistry, she consciously perished the comparison with Tems with her carefully chosen topics, her avalanche of lambas, and her consciously driven concept album. She says a lot on the tracks, and sometimes, it becomes confusing but the sequentially arranged tracks saves the day for her.

Emmanuel Daraloye is a music journalist. He can be contacted via @EmmanuelDaralaloye on all social media platforms.

Vanguard News Nigeria