Afrobeat superstar Ayra Starr said she completed university early due to her desire to become a teen pop star.
During an interview with Rania Aniftos on Billboard, Ayra Starr confessed that she started university at 14 and graduated early because she wanted to fulfill her dreams of being a teenage pop star. During the Interview, she discussed earning her first Grammy nomination. As well as her ambition to become a teenage pop sensation, and the surge in popularity of the Afrobeats genre. She also gave her insights on the future trajectory of the genre, among other topics.
“I got into uni at 14”
– Ayra Starr on Billboard News pic.twitter.com/OlSUUZBYGc
— African Folder (@africanfolder) February 23, 2024
Ayra Starr became the youngest African female artist to have raked in 300 million views from her track Rush views on YouTube. Like many artists around the world, Ayra Starr’s parents were not in support of her pursuing music without a university degree. She said, “I was like let’ go. I went to university at 14. I felt like my mum has been using music to blackmail me. If you want to do music you have to do this. I knew that If I waited till I turned 15 or 16 as was the normal age I wouldn’t be able to be a teen pop star. I wanted to be a Teenage Pop star. It was very specific. After university, I started doing covers online and the same year I got signed”.
The afrobeat singer disclosed that she enrolled in university at age 14 and graduated at 17 with a degree in International Diplomacy. She also recounted her time residing in Benin Republic and highlighted the notable cultural distinctions compared to living in Nigeria. She also disclosed that her results weren’t perfect but were good enough for her parents to allow her to pursue music.
