Sophia Michaels
Nigerian superstar songstress and Marvin’s signee, Ayra Star, has defied expectations once again, reaching the coveted No. 1 spot on Apple Music’s Nigerian Top 100 songs.
This accomplishment further validates the singer’s alternative names, “Celestial Being” and the “Sabi Girl” of her time, as she has achieved this feat multiple times. In this instance, she dethroned Kizz Daniel’s “Twe Twe” remix featuring Davido, which had held the No. 1 spot on Apple Music’s Nigerian Top 100 songs for about a month.
It is no doubt that Ayra Star has, over the years since her break out into the limelight, been pulling her weight in the industry and solidifying her position as one of the most exciting talents out of Nigeria. She is also doing incredibly well compared to her fellow female colleagues in the industry.
In July 2021, Ayra Star released her debut single, which doubled as the lead single to her EP, “19 and Dangerous.” The lead song, which was titled “Bloody Samaritan,” apparently caused a buzz across regions and thus became an anthem for music lovers across the African continent and beyond.
In September 2022, the singer peaked Apple Music’s chart in Nigeria with her then-brand new single “Rush,” which dethroned YBNL’s raving act Asake, whose latest release at the time was one of the hottest singles in the Nigerian music scene. It is worthy to note that with several solo hits such as “Joha” and Terminator, Asake has also laid his mark as an artist to reckon with in the Nigerian music industry.
Regardless, several of Ayra’s solo releases, such as Bloody Samaritan, among others; her debut Extended Play EP, “19 and Dangerous,” and her joint projects with other acts such as Wizkid, Omah Lay, Crayon, and C-kay, among others, have also competed favorably across several charts and digital music streaming platforms in the country and beyond. These have significantly enhanced her smooth performance and progression in her career as a musical artist, not too long after “derailing” from her fashion and modeling business, which she was initially known for.
Notably, Ayra Star’s latest feat on Apple Music’s Nigerian Top 100 songs comes barely a week after she and other Nigerian artists, including Davido, Burna Boy, Olamide, and Asake, lost out on their recent Grammy nominations at the 66th Grammy Awards ceremony, which was held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on February 4th, 2024. Clinching the No. 1 spot on Apple Music may, however, serve as a consolation for the loss, which many considered a big blow in the face of the Afrobeats industry since no Nigerian artist was on the winning list.
Recall that Ayra was nominated for the inaugural Best African Music Performance category at the 66th Grammys with her solo hit single, “Rush.” The 21-year-old Marvins Princess was nominated alongside Davido, Burna Boy, Asake, Olamide, and South Africa’s Tyla and Musa Keys as the maiden nominees. Though Tyla stole the show, the celestial being has proven once more that awards do not solely define the success of an artist, but numbers do to a large extent.
