Don Jazzy, Mavin Records CEO has gone down memory lane recalling the first time he discovered fast-rising singer Ayra Starr.
The music executive, while speaking in a recent interview, disclosed that 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.
According to the music producer, a Gen Z follower he had contacted when searching for a new talent, shared several Instagram pages, including that of Ayra Starr’s.
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“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 also disclosed that the first time he slid into Ayra’s DM, she did not respond; he had to reach out to her brother before getting across to her.
“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