Ayra Starr released her third studio album, “Starrgirl”, on August 14, 2026, through Mavin Records and Republic Records. It follows 19 & Dangerous, which came out in 2021, and The Year I Turned 21, released in 2024. The 16-track project features seven guest artists.

Dangerous opens the album, setting a bold tone before Amazing brings in British singer kwn. Wizkid joins her on Gimme Dat, a collaboration that earned Ayra a GRAMMY nomination, while Leon Thomas sings on Pressure. Tornado, a single she put out earlier in 2026, rounds off this opening run of songs.

Photo: Instagram/@Aryastarr

Midnight in New York and Hot Body keep the momentum going before French artist Theodora steps in on Ms Paper. Dance and Where Do We Go follow, and Rema shows up on Who’s Dat Girl, a long-awaited pairing for fans of both artists.

Tracks twelve and thirteen, Misunderstood and Letter to God, don’t have guest features. Song fourteen, Heaven Bab, features ZAYN. Treasure follows at track fifteen, and the album closes with a remix of Hot Body featuring Danny Ocean.

Gimme Dat, Hot Body, Who’s Dat Girl, “Where Do We Go“, and Tornado were all released as singles ahead of the album’s release.

Photo: Instagram/@Aryastarr

Ayra confirmed her move from Lagos to New York in November 2025, telling Hot 93.7FM that relocating was about broadening her sound and representing her culture on a bigger stage. She said the city reminds her of Lagos, pointing to the large Nigerian and African communities there. Weeks later, she opened up on Substack about the harder side of settling in, describing the adjustment as lonely and the cold as difficult to shake.

Coming off a 2025 that included two GRAMMY nominations, two MOBO Awards, and her first BET Award for Best International Act, Ayra Starr enters Starrgirl carrying real industry weight into this new chapter. Whether the album brings in new numbers to match remains to be seen, but the tracklist alone shows an artist stretching further than she has on any project before this one.

Mr P is back in familiar territory with I Love You Because, a song less concerned with saying “I love you” than with explaining why. It comes from his OG Forever project and centres on a woman who carries calm, maturity and self-respect rather than chasing attention, a point he underlined himself when he shared the line “I love you because you love yourself” around the release. The official video takes that same idea and gives it a striking visual form.

Rather than shooting a standard performance video, the whole thing is rendered in a painterly, almost animated style, with visible brushstrokes and swirling textures running through every frame. It gives the video a dreamlike quality from the first scene, more like watching a moving painting than a typical music video.

Photo: YouTube/@Mrp

The story stays simple: Mr P moves between intimate indoor spaces and open, romantic backdrops, with a woman appearing across several scenes as the object of affection.

Mr P looks at ease throughout, dressed in a camo-patterned bucket hat and matching jacket that stays consistent across most of the video. He performs with his usual confidence, using expression and movement to sell the song’s warmth. There’s a lightness to how he carries it, nothing about the delivery feels heavy or sad, which fits a song built around appreciating someone rather than losing them.

Photo: YouTube/@Mrp

The visuals are where this video really hits. One scene places him in a wooden interior with an old-style television playing in the background. Another takes him outdoors against a red-brick building with fire escapes running up the side. The most striking moments come at night, where he’s framed against a swirling, star-filled skyline that leans into the same painterly style as the rest of the video. the video follows other couples through scenes of their own: a library lined with bookshelves and a red curtain, where the lady appears in green, a grand hall with columns and a chandelier, and a rooftop setting at night where she wears red against the city lights.

The song and video sit comfortably together because the visuals never try to overpower the message. The painterly style gives the whole thing a soft, romantic mood that matches the lyrics without needing a complicated plot to carry it.

Ayra Starr has officially unveiled her third studio album, “Starr Girl”, giving fans their first confirmed look at the project she has been teasing for months.

The Nigerian singer shared the news during an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, where she confirmed that “Starr Girl” will be be released on August 14. Speaking about the album, Ayra said she was proud of the work she had put into it, describing it as a deeply personal record that reflects where she is in her career.

Photo: Instagram/@ayrastarr

“My album, ‘Starr Girl’… I’m so proud of this body of work. I put everything into it, and I can’t wait for the world to hear it,” she said during the interview.

“Starr Girl” follows her debut album, “19 & Dangerous (2021)”, and her sophomore effort, “The Year I Turned 21 (2024)”, both of which helped establish her as one of Africa’s leading contemporary music stars. Since then, Ayra Starr has expanded her audience well beyond Nigeria through international tours, festival appearances and collaborations with artists from different parts of the world.

Photo: Instagram/@ayrastarr

The new album arrives after months of speculation from fans, who had closely followed her studio updates and social media hints. Earlier interviews also revealed that she had been recording new music and exploring fresh ideas for the project, although she kept the album title under wraps until the official announcement.

One of the songs already linked to the album is “Where Do We Go”, which Ayra Starr performed during her appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show. The performance offered viewers an early taste of the direction she is taking on the new record.

In recent days, the singer has also begun counting down to the album’s release across her social media platforms, sharing teaser clips while continuing her recovery after recently undergoing surgery.

Photo: Instagram/@ayrastarr

Released through Mavin Records, with international backing from Roc Nation, the 16-track project features guest appearances from Wizkid on “Gimme Dat” and Rema on “Who’s Dat Girl”, adding two of Afrobeats’ biggest names to the record.

With two successful studio albums already to her name and a growing global profile, “Starr Girl” marks another important chapter for the 23-year-old artist. As anticipation builds ahead of its arrival, fans can look forward to a 16-track project that pairs Ayra Starr with Wizkid and Rema while showcasing the next phase of her musical journey.