Ayra Starr Ep review

Ayra Starr EP review

On Thursday, January 21, 2021 Mavin Records CEO- Don Jazzy announced via his social media platforms that the label had a new addition and that her name is Ayra Starr. He then made an announcement that her self-titled EP would drop on Friday 22, 2021 by midnight. True to his words, the extended play was released and made available on streaming platforms. Within 24 hours of its release, it is now the number one album on Apple Music Nigeria

Meanwhile, a lot of comments on social media have called her sound amazing. So, we’ve been eager to do a track by track review of the EP. Well, let’s get into it!

Tracks
1 Away
2 Ija
3 DITR
4 Sare
5 Memories

Away

Jesus! Away is the lead single of the EP and I think it is still the best song on the EP yet. The lyrics are wonderful and align correctly with the title, Ayra says ‘they call you trouble…take it away. You no come understand that you can never be the one for me? Take all your trouble!

The chorus makes this song one that will do well with a live audience. You can easily sync with ‘Away….away…away’

Ayra has a lovely voice, and even though she is young. She sounds like she has been singing professionally for several years. Yes, that’s how mature her sound is. Her lyrics are not childish at all. I listened to this song three times trying to find a flaw. I couldn’t find any. She did a perfect job on ‘Away’

Ija
The first complete Afrobeat on this EP and its intro is fire! Although it took a long time to connect the lyrics to the title ‘Ija’. The song should have been given a good romantic song that complements Ayra’s amazing lyrics on it. Maybe the name of the guy that was absolutely obsessed with her. It would have made it more relatable.

‘Ija’ also points out that Ayra is a good songwriter. Her songs have been lyric embedded so far. If ‘Ija’ had a male collaboration, it would have been a 100% beaut. Nonetheless, it is still a good song.

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DITR

I looked forward to listening to this song because of the title. Oh my God! Ayra spoke on the way young people behave and shock their parents. Most of these behaviors elicit prayers from their parents. Arya goes;
‘Omo mi wa da? Your child is changing. She started drinking, she is doing drugs now. She don dey do runs now. Shey Igbo labi? Your boy is changing, he is doing drugs now, he is playing with guns. He doesn’t go to school anymore’

Deep lyrics by the way. What I don’t understand is the lyrics that followed the behaviors she described. I listened to it like 5 times to be sure I heard right. It sounded like she low-key supported it by saying ‘She is still your baby, nothing has changed please, she is only 18….’

If you listened to Falz’s ‘Child of the world’, he presented issues like this but postulated a stance. He sounded more satirical and suggested ways to put an end to such habits. With Ayra, it is hard to postulate where she stands, but at least, she did mention real issues faced by youths of nowadays which include: drug addiction, playing truant or toying with their lives and future unnecessary. Such actions might also be caused by depression, but she didn’t mention this on the song,

Meanwhile, I love it how the new generation of artists tend to address several issues on their projects and Ayra did that on DITR. Kudos to her.

Sare

‘Sare’ is a breathtaking romantic song! Ayra is good with RnB, but the way she combines it with Afrobeats is amazing. She is also very good with ‘Chorus strategy’. She knows how to form the perfect chorus for a song in a way that will make it resonate with people very well.

So I take back what I said, ‘Sare’ is my best romantic song between ‘Sare and Ija’ it is just too beautiful. I love the pure Yoruba lyrics she added at the end of the song.

On ‘Sare’, Ayra sounds as passionate for love as she is supposed to. She unabashedly declares how love for her lover and how she will continue to, imploring him to come back and not run off. ‘I can’t apologize cos my fairytale is you’. ‘Sare’ is pure Afrobeats and honestly. Ayra put in a lot of work on this song. The songwriting is also beautiful.

‘Sare’ suggests that Ayra must have been listening to music legends for a long time. What she did at the end of ‘Sare’ is iconic!

Memories

Memories is the best way to close the EP, But, to be honest, I never thought it would be a romantic song too. The title does not really suggest that it is purely a romantic song. I thought it would be about Ayra’s memories of how she has come to where she is now, how she is grateful for life as well as the memories she shared with people she loved and who genuinely loved her.

Memories is not a bad romantic song at all. In fact, it is quite enjoyable. But it will most likely be ignored on the EP.

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CONCLUSION

First of all, what a powerful way to make an entrance and establish her mark! Ayra Starr is set for stardom with her self-titled EP. The work she did on it shows that she is not here to play and she will soon go international.

Ayra has a long way to go, but with this project, it feels like she has taken so many strides from the miles in front of her.

Her sound is striking! It is almost Alt RnB like Tems but she knows her way around fusing it with Afrobeats. If you didn’t know she is Nigerian, you would think she is American. Her sound is unadulterated.

Rating (10; 2 each)

Track listing: 2
Mixing/producing: 1
Songwriting: 2
Structure/rhythm: 1
Replay value: 2

Total: 8 out of 10

‘Sare’ is our favorite. Which is yours? If you haven’t listened to the extended play, click here to listen.

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