Days ago, Ayra Starr released on social media, the snippet to her imminent single, a chirpy pop number entitled Hot Body. In the clip, she’s dressed like a character from the 20th century cartoon series The Flintsones. She wears a wispy crop top and distressed shorts fastened together by a belt with an obscenely spiky buckle—a contraption that prehistoric humans might have found useful, not as a sartorial accent but as a weapon for warding off dangerous animals. She’s slicked in oil and as the song plays in the background, she slides down her shirt with her right arm, revealing a blue bra, whilst fanning herself with her left.
The video instantly stirred a panoply of opinions, ranging from didactic to censuring, as different enclaves of the pop culture landscape tried to parse the video through their respective lenses. Puritans upbraided her for ostensibly sexualizing herself. Certain pockets of social media’s feminist presence also spun pedantic missives about the clip’s ribald overtones, mulling about the relationship between auto-sexualization and power in the entertainment world, particularly how it’s increasingly being heralded as the primary path to power for women in the entertainment industry. Not to be left out, certain fans of the South African popstar Tyla joined the fray, accusing Ayra Starr of stealing Tyla’s aesthetic—an inane allegation that has raged on for months, if years, and quite frankly needs to stop. But amid all this rancor, the biggest news was yet to come.
Days after the video was released, Roc Nation officially announced Ayra Starr as part of their artist roster. For those who had been paying attention to Roc Nation’s subtle dalliance with Ayra Starr in the past few months, the news came at no surprise. Roc Nation, on their X page, had congratulated Ayra Starr on her BET win last month and wished her a happy birthday. But to most, the announcement seemed to have come out of nowhere and prompted concern—from some corners—and excitement—from other corners—that she had left Mavin Records, the Don Jazzy-led music powerhouse that unveiled her to the world in 2021 and has since shaped her into one of Africa’s most formidable music stars.
The deal with Roc Nation is a management deal, Ayra Starr still remains signed to Mavin/UMG, Olabode Otolorin, a marketing executive representing Mavin Records tells me. “Over the years, Ayra has had a manager who saw to her daily activities and facilitated bookings, but when you have a company like Roc Nation coming on board, it signifies bigger ambitions in terms of targeting and opportunities,” he continues. “Compared to a single person, Roc Nation is coming on board with their entire arsenal, bringing in their expertise in marketing, branding, touring and events—everything that turns an artist into a mega star.”
That the scope of the deal is limited to management essentially means that she gets to tap into Roc Nation’s sprawling network of opportunities with the least possible disruption to her existing routine. Put differently, her deal is different from that of artists like Wizkid and Tems, both of which have recording deals with RCA. Or Burna Boy’s maze of deals with the labels he’s involved with. He has recording and distribution deals with Atlantic Records, Bad Habit & Warner Music Group for the international market, while Empire Africa handles his distribution within the African continent. And while a recording deal typically entails the label owning the artist’s masters, giving them a recording advance and in-turn wielding outsized control over their day-to-day activities, management deals come with no such baggage.
The deal with Roc Nation is strategic. A multi-pronged business with its tentacles in music publishing, distribution, marketing and even sports, Roc Nation is one of the most formidable companies in entertainment. Its artist roster is composed of artists like ASAP Rocky, Alicia Keys, Clipse, Christina Aguilera, DJ Khaled, J Balvin, Lil Uzi Vert, Rihanna, and a host of others. Roc Nation is also the NFL’s “live music entertainment strategist,” which is a fancy way of saying they’re responsible for organizing the famed Super Bowl halftime show. All these point to their sphere of influence in the American and European music market, which is precisely what makes their partnership with Ayra Starr particularly important.
For a while now, Ayra Starr has transcended the African market—she’s as big and culturally relevant as an artist can possibly be in this part of the world. What she has needed is a partner who can drive conversations about her in the international scene, lobby on her behalf at globally acclaimed awards shows like the Grammys and help her pack out bigger venues across the world—and this is what her partnership with Roc Nation hopes to accomplish.
