Singer cum songwriter, Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe, known professionally as Ayra Starr, has said that as long as Afrobeats artistes stick together and continue propelling the music, the genre will continue to thrive.
She stated this during an interview with French origin magazine, ELLE, a worldwide women’s magazine that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, and society and lifestyle. The Nigerian international sensation spoke on being an Afrobeats superstar and her upcoming second album.
She also bare mind on the global success of the Nigerian sound, Afrobeats, a West African music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles from mainly Nigeria such as the traditional Yoruba and Igbo music and highlife with American funk, jazz, and soul influences.
Commenting on the possibility of the genre getting watered down and losing its originality due to international collaborations and its rising global appeal, the Bloody Samaritan crooner said “as long as Afrobeats artistes stick together and continue propelling the music, the genre will continue to thrive.
“It’s not fair at all; people want to put negativity on Afrobeats because it has become so mainstream. The generations of African artistes who worked to this extent for people like me to be able to be global with this sound worked for this. The genre’s not being diluted, it’s becoming mainstream. People are going to want to try things and do their own versions of things.”
“The key is that when we stick together as Afrobeats artistes and continue with our sound; it can never be diluted. Nobody is ever going to be able to do it like us. That’s just the truth and it’s a beautiful thing to see and lovely to hear,” she added.
Ayra Starr released her sophomore album, The Year I Turned 21, yesterday to the admiration of fans and music buffs. According to her, the album speaks of positive feeling and greatness.
