At 14, Coco Jones was catapulted into stardom thanks to a role as teen singing sensation Roxie in the 2012 Disney movie Let It Shine. That rush of fame was short-lived. Jones was signed then dropped from a label before she was 16. The industry didn’t know what to do with the young girl with the big voice. She was too sultry, too confident, too Coco.

But in that short time, Jones had already managed to touch another girl halfway around the world. A young Nigerian named Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe was looking to Disney movies as a road map to turn her own dreams into a reality. And she saw Jones’ Roxie as a role model.

Aderibigbe began singing, and would later take the stage name Ayra Starr. Her debut album, 2021’s 19 and Dangerous (and its 2022 deluxe counterpart), brought smash hits “Bloody Samaritan” and “Rush” — with the latter finding itself on President Obama’s end-of-year faves. Her mix of upbeat Afropop with a soulful vocal register brought her to the mainstream.

Jones, meanwhile, built herself back up with the 2022 EP What I Didn’t Tell You. Standout tracks like “Double Back” and “ICU” mirror the pure origins of R&B — dizzying melodies, lovesick lyrics, full-bodied vocals. The latter song won her a Grammy for Best R&B Performance. She just put out a new single, “Sweep It Up”, and is preparing to release an album early next year.

Not long ago, Jones invited Starr to a dinner in London. They met and bonded; they gushed about working together one day. And then they did: Starr recruited Jones and the Brazilian singer Anitta for guest spots on the empowering crew cut “Woman Commando”, off Starr’s latest album, this year’s excellent The Year I Turned 21.

When Jones and Starr join each other for their Musicians on Musicians interview, the diasporic connection is apparent as they hug and rock like cousins do. As they talk, the singers huddle closely, asking each other how they navigate this world. Throughout the conversation they take us on a journey through failure, family, sleepless nights, dating, and how much their lives have changed in such a short amount of time.

Starr: I met you when, ’23 or ’22?

Jones: Girl, I don’t even remember.

Starr: You were having a dinner thing in London, and you invited me. You told me you knew “Away”. I was like, “What?”

Jones: Because that’s my favourite song.

Starr: I was so happy. Then I was seeing you on every red carpet.

Jones: No, literally. And then we kept being like, “Girl, we need to do something,” and then we got to record together, which is such a bop. What do you feel like were some of the things that in the year ’23 you were like, “If y’all only knew the things I go through…”?

Starr: People only see the one per cent. It takes a village. It takes more than a village. It takes a nation behind us. There are lots of things I can go into — from recording after shows, because I was doing a lot of shows. Sometimes I’d just look at my mic before I go on, sort of like, “God, save me.” What about you?

Jones: Sometimes I feel like, “Dang, they just will never see.” But then I think, “OK, Beyoncé did it, too—”

Starr: Missed flights and this happened and that happened. Five minutes before stage, something happened to my outfit. Or the hair is not going the way I want it to be. You know when you’re actually sick and you have to perform?

Jones: Yes. Right before you go on, you’re like [breathes deeply, vocalises in perfect pitch] “Heyyy.” When was the time where you were like, “Oh, dang, I really am in my bag. And it’s costing me my personal life a little bit”?

Credit: Gioncarlo Valentine

Starr: Every time, every day. But I’m so grateful that I have a family that understands. When I go back home, I still live with my family. My brothers are making noise, playing video games. The house is still very much a house, very full. I thank God for my friends. We have group chats — before I wear something, [it’s] “Should I wear this?” But they get it. Sometimes I just disappear when it becomes overwhelming. Do you ever get overwhelmed?

Jones: Oh, yes, absolutely, I actually am learning now that it’s burnout, like, “Oh, girl, you’re just exhausted. You actually just need a nap and maybe a meal.” I do feel like I’m trying to be more conscious, too. I feel like sometimes I run out of Coco because I haven’t taken care of me.

When you put out your album, were you like, “OK, they’re gonna like this the most or this the most?” And then were you surprised?

Starr: I like trying different things, so I had different sounds. One minute I’m making an Afro-dance record, the next minute, I come into the studio [and] I feel like making funk. I get bored quickly. So picking songs for the album was hard; it was like trying to make all these different sounds fit into one story. Chris Martin showed me something. He drew a box. He’s like, “This is your album. When it’s hard for you to pick songs, or when it’s hard for you to understand what exactly the album is trying to mean, just make sure everything fits into that box. Just write the emotions you’re feeling, write the song names, and make sure it fits into this story.” And that just made sense.

Jones: Did you choose the title for your album The Year I Turned 21?

Starr: Yes [laughs].

Jones: What does that mean to you? Like, what happened?

Starr: My debut album was 19 and Dangerous, but the second one, I wanted to have a number… So I was like, maybe “21 and Bad”? “21 and… Good”? [Laughs.] I hate the fact people expect it now. People are like, “OK, 23, Ayra… let us know.” I feel like I have to do things for the plot, just for the next album. Like, it’s too much pressure, please. I just want to be an introvert.

Jones: When you were younger and would watch stuff on Disney, were you like, “Oh, this is me”?

Starr: I thought I was going to be a Disney child. I’m going to be the Nigerian Hannah Montana, I’m gonna be a superstar. I didn’t have Black female representation, especially on Disney. But you did it. I told you I grew up watching Let It Shine.

Jones: Did you really?

Starr: Girl, let me tell you, don’t wind me. You know we all did. Nigeria is a big Disney place. I grew up on Hannah Montana. We’re also very religious. Let It Shine was like a gospel, so we were waiting for it. In Nigeria, there’s something that happens where you don’t have electricity sometimes, and I was just praying, “I pray we have electricity today.”

Jones: No way.

Starr: I started begging my mom to please put on the generator. I remember sitting down to watch Let It Shine. I remember seeing you… and now you’re on my song.

Jones: That is crazy. I didn’t know what it was going to do for people. I was 14.

Starr: You were 14 in Let It Shine? Oh, you were a baby… Do you feel like you have a responsibility to young Black girls?

Jones: Yeah, I definitely do. I think the same way that I was impacted, I’m impacting somebody. I feel like I have so many greats before me that have taught me a lot. Taught me a lot about being authentic, being unapologetically whatever it is, standing on business. I feel like I have a great formula, you know?

Starr: I love that.

Jones: Do you feel like you have a responsibility as well?

Starr: Yes. I mean, we all do, in a way. I see the way the world is shaping and forming right now, and there’s definitely responsibility there. I never got to have somebody look like me. All the young girls, Nigerian girls, even the older Nigerian, African women, they’re like, “Oh, my God. We have a pop star. We have an African pop star.” So I feel very responsible.

Credit: Gioncarlo Valentine

Jones: I feel like I want to make it easier on the next young Black girl to just get here. I want it to just be more common that we are the leads in things, that we are the top of the chart, that we’re at the front of the magazine, that we’re everywhere… When I was younger, I did this thing called Disney Dreamers Academy, and it’s all these different successful people and all of these kids, and you just talk to them about what you do. I want to do a version of that, but for Black girls. I am big on mental health. There will be a therapist there. There’ll be a glam room. The girlies can learn what they need to do because I feel like that’s a part of my legacy that I want to leave.

If I have all of this wisdom, and I learned these lessons the hard way, and I can’t put that information out there and show them, then what did I do that for?

Starr: I love that so much. Legacy… it’s such a tricky question, because I want to do it all, and I definitely want to be known for that person that did it all and did it well.

Jones: Beyoncé vibes. Everything she touched, mwah. I have one more fun question. Answer as truthfully as you want: How has it been popping off and dating?

Starr: It is hard because you have to be very careful about who you give your energy to. And I’m so happy I wasn’t really dating before I started music. I didn’t really know what I was missing. So now that I waited this long to date people, I have very high standards. If it’s gonna be hard to meet it, it’s gonna be bye-bye. But also, I don’t have time for myself, talk less of a boy.

Jones: Would you want to date someone who’s in your industry because they’ll get it?

Credit: Gioncarlo Valentine

Starr: In the dream world, it wouldn’t be somebody that is in the industry. Probably just like a billionaire. On a yacht. In Dubai. In a thong [laughs]. What about you?

Jones: I went through my “Oh, my God. What is my life? What happened?” phase. But I also got to live. So I really feel like I got to date as a regular girl in a way.

Starr: I love that. I’m so jealous.

Jones: I feel like I got a really good idea of what I wanted. Then as I got more relevant, the options got more relevant… I’m wishing for your billionaire, you know.

Starr: I’m just kidding. I don’t care too much about all that, because I make my own money.

Jones: Girl, but ain’t nothing wrong with him being on your calibre.

Starr: Of course, hello! We have to both mentally stimulate each other. I’m very attracted to intelligent people. Intelligent, confident, and cute…

Jones: And then have a yacht in Dubai. Let me get it right. We gotta do this again. We actually need to kick it. I really, really enjoyed this. You’re so wise, dude.

Starr: Look at you. Thank you.

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