Don Jazzy Reveals How He Discovered Ayra Starr [VIDEO]
Mavin Records boss Don Jazzy has recalled how he discovered singer Ayra Starr.
Speaking in an interview on Echo Room, Don Jazzy said he first came across Ayra on Instagram and was drawn to her youthful energy.
“I don’t know whether it’s a genius idea or not. It just felt like the industry needed it, you know what I’m saying. For someone like Ayra, there is a space for a young teenage Afrobeat superstar from Nigeria that we want to ensure becomes global. So it was very intentional,” he said.
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The producer revealed he contacted a Gen Z follower, asking if they knew anyone with music talent in their school. The person sent him several Instagram pages, including Ayra Starr’s.
“She sent a couple of Instagram pages of some people, who, oh, look at them, and you say, ‘I look at them.’ I said, Okay, fine. They’re not bad; I’ll keep watching them to see how they move on in the social media space. And luckily for me, one of those days, she saw a video where I was freestyling and sent it to me,” he explained.
Don Jazzy added that he slid into Ayra’s DM but she did not reply immediately, so he reached out to her brother.
“She didn’t answer me first. I saw her brother. I saw a post that she posted with her brother as well. I sent a message as well to her brother,” he said.
Ayra Starr was eventually signed to Mavin Records in 2020. She released her self-titled debut EP in January 2021. The project topped charts across Africa and produced the hit single Away.
