Ayra Starr opens up on studio time with Chris Martin: “He’s been very supportive”

Ayra Starr has spoken about her studio time with Coldplay‘s Chris Martin, along with her upcoming Glastonbury debut.

The Beninese-Nigerian musician spoke about meeting Coldplay in the studio to the BBC, revealing that she met frontman Chris Martin and their producer, Max Martin.

She revealed to the BBC that she played both the Martins her sophomore album ‘The Year I Turned 21‘, saying: “Oh, my. 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 was giving me tips, and [his producer] Max Martin was giving me tips.

“I took them all. I was like, “Yes, I’ll do all of that!”

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

Alongside Burna Boy, Starr will be the first Afrobeats performer to take to the stage at Glastonbury. Speaking to the BBC, she said of the achievement: “It’s actually crazy. I’ve wanted to do Glastonbury for so long. The fact that I get to do it on the main stage is kind of scary… but I love scary.”

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

NME spoke to Ayra Starr last year, where she opened up on collaborating with grime legend Stormzy and Tendai for ‘Need You’.

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

We also reviewed ‘The Year I Turned 21‘, giving it a full five stars: “She closes on a reflective note, describing how she has managed to stay present while managing the loss of her father,” wrote NME‘s Tami Makinde. “Starr assures the listener that they can overcome hardship, too; stringing together a tightly-constructed album where love, pain, and joy exist in tandem.”

The gates to Glastonbury have just opened today, where over 200,000 festival-goers will be welcomed by a full bill of music, entertainment and much more up until the early hours of Monday morning (July 1).

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