Nigerian female star Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe, known professionally as Ayra Starr, will not perform in Kigali this month, The New Times has learnt.

It is after many reports indicated that the ‘Bloody Samaritan' hit maker was expected to perform during the Basketball Africa League (BAL) slated for May 20-27, in Kigali.

"She was on our wish list but things changed. However, there are other good musicians that will entertain revelers during BAL,” a trusted source from BAL told The New Times.

Ayra Starr performing in Rwanda had attracted people’s attention. The 20-year old singer is making global hits and turning herself into a pop sensation through Mavin Records.

She was also part of the long line-up of artistes that were expected to perform in Rwanda at the end of 2022 but never made it.

Ayra Starr remains a big thing for Rwandan event promoters who are trying their best to see her perform live in the country.

About Ayraa

The singer, real name Sarah Oyinkansola Aderibigbe, is a Beninese-born Nigerian singer. She began a fashion career at the age of 16 with Quove Model Management before deciding to pursue a career in music. After covering several songs by popular artistes on Instagram, she posted her first original song on her page in December 2019. This brought her to the attention of record executive Don Jazzy, who signed her to his record label Mavin Records.

In early 2021, Ayra Starr achieved mainstream recognition with her eponymous debut extended play and its hit track "Away", which spent two consecutive weeks at number four on Nigeria's TurnTable Top 50 chart; the song also peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Top Thriller Global chart, paving the way for the release of her first full-length mixtape, ‘19 & Dangerous’.

Categorized mainly as Afropop and R&B, the mixtape received favorable critical reception and spawned two top forty hits in Nigeria. The lead single "Bloody Samaritan" peaked atop the Top 50 chart, becoming the first solo song by a female artiste to reach the number-one position. Starr debuted on Pandora Predictions chart, and on August 28, 2021, was ranked number three on Billboard's Next Big Sound.