Photo Credit: Savion Washington By Okla Jones ·Updated March 12, 2026 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

Ayra Starr continues to reach new heights with the release of her new single “Where Do We Go.” In recent years, the Beninese-Nigerian artist has emerged as one of the most prominent young voices in Afrobeats and contemporary R&B, a position reinforced by chart success, major award nominations, and a growing international audience.

The new track arrives after a stretch of activity that kept Starr firmly in the spotlight. Her sophomore album The Year I Turned 21 drew strong critical attention and went on to surpass one billion streams worldwide. The project debuted on the Billboard 200 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard World Albums chart. Her talent carried her into television as well, when she appeared as a musical guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, performing a medley of “Last Heartbreak Song” and “Woman Commando.”

For Starr, the next phase of her career is about exploration. “My fans can expect amazing fun music with new sounds and creative growth and expression and collaborations and all that exciting stuff,” she said when discussing the direction of her upcoming material. Her current single, however, emerged organically with a familiar producer. “It was my first session with Ilya and we were just vibing in the studio,” Starr explained. “He’s such a genius, he really understood where I wanted to go sonically and we just clicked that day.”

Before this latest release, Starr’s ascent had already been defined by several standout records. Her debut album 19 & Dangerous produced the hit “Rush,” which earned her first nomination at the Grammy Awards in the category of Best African Music Performance. She has since received a second nomination in the same category for “Gimme Dat,” her collaboration with Wizkid.

Another recent highlight came through her collaboration with Rema on the Afro-dance single “Who’s Dat Girl,” a track that quickly became one of the year’s most widely shared songs in the genre. The partnership carried a personal element for Starr. “Rema is like my brother,” she said. “We’ve really grown up together in this industry so it was so much fun to do the song together and shoot the video.”

Despite the growing list of accomplishments, Starr still recalls experiences that surprised even her. Being able to perform as the main attraction in another country stands out as one of them. “I think for me headlining Glastonbury was a real ‘pinch me’ moment,” she said. “I was the first Nigerian female Afrobeats artist to headline the Pyramid stage, and I really felt like I was making history.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 27: (L-R) Rema and Ayra Starr perform onstage during the 2025 Global Citizen Festival at Central Park on September 27, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen)

Recognition from the Grammys and other institutions has reinforced the pace of her success. “It means everything,” Starr said about the nominations. “I work really hard to create music I can be proud of and my fans can be proud of so when those kinds of acknowledgements happen it makes me feel like I’m doing something right.”

Looking ahead, Starr remains focused on expanding the reach of the genre that helped introduce her to the world. As Afrobeats continues to gain traction, she sees her next chapter as part of that larger movement. The goal, she explains, is to keep pushing the sound forward while opening doors for new artists and new audiences along the way.

“I want to take Afrobeats across new borders, and into new spaces,” she said. “I don’t want us to be held back by outdated ideas of what we should or should not sound like. We define the genre and we’re going global.”

TOPICS:  Ayra Starr

The post Ayra Starr Is On The Rise appeared first on Essence.

Author: Okla Jones

Read the original article on Essence.