Ayra Starr‘s third studio album, Starrgirl, is a victory lap dressed up as a growth spurt. Released August 14, the 16 track project runs a tight 46 minutes and finds the Nigerian star positioning herself, as she’s put it, as the center of her own universe.
The features are the loudest part of the rollout, and they mostly earn their spots. ZAYN shows up on “Heaven Baby,” a stripped down, piano led duet that trades percussion for pure vocal contrast, his falsetto playing off her instant attraction lyrics like they’ve been trading verses for years. “Amazing” pairs her with kwn for a smoky, trap leaning late night cut, her voice run through effects until it practically doubles as another guitar in the mix. Wizkid drops in on “Gimme Dat,” Rema links up for the labelmate reunion “Who’s Dat Girl,” Leon Thomas features on “Pressure,” Theodora turns up on the deep cut “Ms Paper,” and Danny Ocean closes things out on the “Hot Body” remix, a curveball that pulls the album toward Latin pop without losing the plot.
Where Starrgirl really lands is in the quieter corners. “Letter to God” builds from piano and bass into a full band swell as Starr writes to God about a love she knows is fragile. “Dance” delivers the album’s thesis in one line: “Feels good to be who I am.” She’s always known who she is as an artist. This time she’s letting the lore catch up.
It’s not a flawless record. The midsection sags slightly between “Tornado” and “Where Do We Go,” and a couple of the solo tracks feel like placeholders next to the star powered cuts around them. But as a statement of arrival, Starrgirl mostly delivers.
