Nigerian singer Oyinkansola Aderibigbe, popularly known as Ayra Starr, has shared her opinion about Afrobeats getting watered down and losing its originality due to international collaborations and its rising global appeal.
Ayra Starr, who shared her thoughts on the matter in an interview with Tariro Mzezewa of ELLE Magazine, said that it is not fair at all that people want to put negativity on the Afrobeats music genre because it has become so mainstream.
According to her, Afrobeats is not going to get diluted, however, people are going to try to do their own version of it but the key is when Afrobeats musicians stick together and continue with their own sounds, it will never be diluted.
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She said, ‘‘It’s not fair at all. People want to put negativity on Afrobeats because it has become so mainstream. The generations of African artists who worked to this extent for people like me to be able to be global with this sound worked for this. The genre’s not being diluted; it’s becoming mainstream. People are going to want to try things and do their own versions of them. The key is that when we stick together as Afrobeats artists and continue with our sound, it can never be diluted. Nobody is ever going to be able to do it like us. That’s just the truth, and it’s a beautiful thing to see and lovely to hear.”
Ayra Starr also attributes her ability to create a unique sound in the Afrobeats genre to her unusual voice and her willingness to experiment with different sounds.
“It’s my voice. I’ve opened myself up to so many possibilities when it comes to sound because I don’t like to hold myself in a box. I’m a very proud Afrobeats artist, but I am in different spaces and different genres, from the Spanish world to David Guetta dance music, One thing that has been very consistent in every aspect is my voice. It isn’t just a voice, it’s my sound and it’s distinctive from the first “yeah, yeah” you hear in my songs. Just that and people feel good. I don’t want to be bragging!” She noted.
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