Ayra Starr talks about her studio time with Chris Martin: “He supported me a lot”

Ayra Starr has spoken about her time in the studio with Coldplay’s Chris Martin and her upcoming Glastonbury debut.

The Beninese-Nigerian musician spoke about his meeting with Coldplay in the studio to BBCand revealed that she met frontman Chris Martin and their producer Max Martin.

She revealed to the BBC that she played both Martins on her second album, “The Year I Turned 21,” and said, “Oh dear. Yes. I’ve loved Chris for so long and he’s been very supportive.”

“We met in a studio and I played him my album before it came out,” she added. “He gave me tips, and (his producer) Max Martin gave me tips.”

“I took them all. I thought to myself: ‘Yes, I’ll do all of that!'”

Starr also spoke about her upcoming debut at Glastonbury, where she will play on Saturday (June 29).

Alongside Burna Boy, Starr will be the first Afrobeats artist to perform at Glastonbury. In conversation with the BBCshe said of the success: “It’s crazy actually. I’ve wanted to perform at Glastonbury for so long. The fact that I get to do it on the main stage is kind of scary… but I love being scary.”

She continued: “It’s our time. We’ve been waiting for Afrobeats to globalize, and now it’s happening. But it’s not just what you see today. It’s years and generations of musicians and hard work that have made it what it is.”

NME spoke to Ayra Starr last year where she talked about collaborating with grime legend Stormzy and Tendai on “Need You”.

she said NME: “They sent me the track and said, ‘Stormzy wants you to be on a song.’ I was like, ‘Really? Me?!’ I was like, ‘He really knows me! He wants me to be on a song!’ So that was really exciting.”

We also reviewed “The Year I Turned 21” and gave it a full five stars: “She closes on a thoughtful note, describing how she managed to stay present while processing the loss of her father,” wrote NMETami Makinde. “Starr assures the listener that they too can overcome difficulties. She does this by putting together a tightly constructed album where love, pain and joy go hand in hand.”

The gates to Glastonbury have just opened today, where over 200,000 festival-goers will be welcomed with an extensive program of music, entertainment and much more until the early hours of Monday (July 1).

Check back here at NME for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos, rumors and more from Glastonbury 2024.