Ayra Starr Opens Up About Self-Discovery and Creating ‘Starrgirl’ in Candid 66 GREENE Interview

In a revealing new conversation with 66 GREENE Magazine, Ayra Starr is peeling back the layers on what it took to create her latest album and find herself in the process. The 24-year-old Afrobeats sensation covers the publication’s latest issue, offering intimate insights into solo living, world-touring with legends, and reconnecting with her artistic voice.

Fresh off filming Children of Blood and Bone in Cape Town and moving into her first solo apartment in New York City, Ayra is navigating a transformative chapter. Between opening for Coldplay on their massive Music of the Spheres World Tour and crafting Starrgirl, she’s discovering what it means to live—and create—on her own terms.

Solitude as a Teacher

For someone who grew up surrounded by close-knit family, Ayra’s first experience living alone brought unexpected revelations. The NYC apartment represented freedom at first—”At the beginning, I was loving it, like yes, I’m in my big girl apartment, nobody can tell me what to do, period!” she recalls with a laugh. But between the brutal winter cold and missing her mother’s cooking, homesickness crept in.

Still, she found her rhythm. Late nights exploring the city, friendly banter with her local barista, and most importantly, uninterrupted time with herself. “When you spend a lot of time on your own, you start to deconstruct everything you’ve been told to be,” she explains. “You start to find out what you really think, what you really want, what you really are and what you really want to be.”

Lessons from the Coldplay Stage

Opening for one of the world’s biggest bands reshaped Ayra’s understanding of performance entirely. Supporting Coldplay across packed stadiums shifted her perspective from ego to service. “What I grew up thinking that performing was—it’s about you as the artist, it’s about you being on stage, these people coming to see you,” she shares. “Being a supporting act made me understand that every night you’re literally sacrificing yourself for these people that came to see you. It’s not about you. It’s about them.”

That realization deepened her connection to the craft. “It’s about how they lived that night. It’s about if you touched lives, it’s about if you made somebody smile or somebody feel better. That’s what you’re doing, that’s your job.”

Hearing Her Voice Again

After stepping away from the relentless album cycle grind, Ayra found joy in music again. Singles like “Hot Body,” “Gimme Dat” featuring Wizkid, and “Who’s Dat Girl” with Rema emerged naturally, laying the groundwork for Starrgirl. “Something about moving to New York took me from the outside point of view and put me back into my life,” she says. “And at that moment, I knew I was making an album. Not just because my label wanted me to make an album, or not just because everybody’s expecting an album. I knew that, I’m making an album now because I can hear my voice for the first time in a long time.”

The album reflects that newfound clarity—”understanding myself and accepting being misunderstood, accepting myself for the multitude of experiences and personalities that I am.” Studio sessions were electric, including a sweaty, AC-less recording with French-Congolese artist Theodora for “MS PAPER.” “We’re recording a high tempo song, we’re drinking and jumping around, everything and everybody is sweating,” she remembers. “After we finished making the song, we played it like five times back to back and everybody was so delirious. It was amazing.”

From Cape Town to New York to stages across the world, Ayra Starr is charting her own course—one honest conversation, one powerful performance, and one authentic album at a time.

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