Sophia Michaels
Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe, the famous Nigerian singer, who is popularly known as Ayra Starr in the music world has emerged as Spotify’s Equal Africa and Global Artist for the month of May.
She joins fellow Nigerian Tiwa Savage, who is the only other African artist to be both the Spotify EQUAL Africa and Global artist.
Ayra Starr, whose February release, Commas already has over 35 million streams on Spotify, spoke on her expressive musical style that has helped her craft a niche in the music industry, and what it means to her being selected as Spotify’s EQUAL artist.
“I would describe my sound as highly vibrational, eccentric, unique, and beautiful,” says, describing her style of music.
Reacting to the honour, she adds, “I am grateful to become a Spotify EQUAL Ambassador. It means so much to me to be able to represent women in Afrobeats and African women in general. There are so many women in music right now and the EQUAL program is doing a great job in highlighting their hard work”
“It means everything to me because I am a girl and I have to support my gender and level the playing field.”
Spotify’s EQUAL program supports female artists, giving them a global platform through playlists, content hubs, and partnerships.
Monica Kemoli-Savanne, Spotify’s Senior Artist & Label Partnerships Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa says, “Our commitment at Spotify is to support and empower women in the music industry, helping to create a more level playing field.
“Seeing artists like Ayra Starr come from the continent to gain global recognition serves as a true testament that Africa is full of talent, all that is needed is a platform. It has been a great journey to witness the growth of female artists who are also inspiring generations to come, which also speaks to our commitment to equally support female artists.”
Spotify hosted 15 EQUAL activations and over 14.8 million artist discoveries stemmed from EQUAL playlists, and EQUAL artists received 11,800 editorial playlist adds, all in 2023, further demonstrating the program’s impact and reach.
