Ayra Starr Signs with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, Elevating Her Afrobeats Career Internationally

Still signed to Mavin, the Don Jazzy-founded Nigerian label that discovered and helped drive her breakout, Starr's deal with Roc Nation is a strategic partnership that's expected to improve her already formidable global popularity, particularly in the U.S. and across Europe.

"Ayra Starr's signing with Roc Nation is a fantastic gambit by the team at Mavin/Universal to give her capable hands to match her ambition,"Afrobeats Intelligence hostJoey Akan says, describing the singer as "an 'IT' pop girl" with high ambitions.

Starr will now be managed internationally by Roc Nation, a move designed to leverage her star power and momentum. The singer is currently on a stadium tour with British rock band Coldplay. She will make her full acting debut in the highly anticipated film adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi'sChildren of Blood and Bone and has won BET and MOBO awards in recent months.

"Having been funneled into Universal Music Group, via the deal with Mavin, what this simply means is, with Roc Nation, she becomes part of another family that prides itself on execution," Akan adds. "America is Roc Nation's market. And they've worked that region enough to have blueprints, deep connections, and the pockets to sway."

Roc Nation boasts an expansive client list of successful artists across management, distribution, and publishing, including rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Lil Uzi Vert, R&B singers Alicia Keys and Snoh Aalegra, and Latin pop superstar J Balvin, among many others.

"With this deal, Ayra and the team at Mavin signify her commitment to succeeding in the West by operating deep in the US market," Akan says. "The aim is to produce another global star from Nigeria. And they're well on their way."