By Chinazam Ikechi-Uko
“Twerk on my throne, in my city, I take control,” Ayra Starr sings on her debut album, 19 and Dangerous. While not her introduction to the Nigerian market, she made it clear on the first track of the album that she loves to dance, and if you disapprove, her exact response was, “Suck on these nuts.”
Four years later, the dance steps and mini skirts that made her such a controversial topic in the Nigerian market have become a bone of contention for the Western version. The difference is that Nigerians’ disdain stems from the conservative values embedded in their society… but the West’s contempt is that her schtick is a copy of another African dancing starlet, Tyla.
WHAT IS GOING ON?
Ayra Starr and Tyla have become somewhat of urban legends; you mention one’s name three times, and someone is going to bring up the other’s. On July 11th, when news publication Pop Crave took to X, formerly Twitter, to share a teaser for Ayra Starr’s latest single, “Hot Body,” the comments were anticipated.
“Tyla’s first son,” one said, and another read, “Tyla 2.0.” A smaller crowd championed Starr collaborating with Tyla instead, and the remaining clamoured for a rebrand. Since then, every post of Starr performing the track has been met with similar reactions. The claims might appear laughable, as Starr and Tyla have a song together. But that was pre-Water (Tyla’s 2023 hit song), and Americans have made it clear that they refuse to acknowledge the existence of Tyla pre-Water. Nevertheless, these claims against Starr have persisted and have become inescapable. But how true are they:
THE BIRTH OF THE PUBLIC MISCONCEPTION:
Individually, Tyla and Ayra Starr have suffered a great deal of criticism. Tyla’s persona is often forced to walk the plank due to xenophobia and uppity allegations. In reality, Tyla has pioneered any social offences. When the uppity allegations are thrown, people cite her asking Lil Nas X to hold her VMA award because it was too heavy for her; an action other petite stars, like Olivia Rodrigo and Cardi B, have also done. Then there’s the popular, she denies being black and calls herself coloured; an entirely untrue statement.
Since her debut, Tyla has expressed her openness to exploring her identity outside of South Africa. In April 2024, for her Cosmopolitan cover story, she is quoted as saying, “I never said I am not Black. It’s just that I grew up as a South African knowing myself as Coloured. And now that I’m exposed to more things, it has made me other things too. I’m also mixed-race. I’m also Black.”
For more context on Tyla’s Cosmopolitan interview, her controversial appearance on The Breakfast Club, where she declined to answer Charlamagne tha God’s question about her identity, occurred in June 2024. Since then, she has gone on to issue explanations, including sharing a notes app screenshot on X. However, to her dismay, the internet still insists that she is a self-hating, uppity African who calls herself ‘coloured’ and that her first song was ‘Water’, which won her a Grammy before Nicki Minaj.
There was no mention that it was in the Best African Performance category, and her main competitor was an African pop star who debuted in the 2020s. Every argument used to discredit Tyla’s claim to the Grammy also undermines the legitimacy of the other nominees. Despite all these online battles, Tyla continues to face, the most ludicrous is the Rihanna copy claims.
Neither have similar songs or dance routines, and the assumption that all waist dances stem from Rihanna is a phrase only speakable by a caucasian from the Caucasus Mountains. Just when the miscategorising of Tyla’s South African couldn’t get worse, there came the global takeover of Ayra Starr, and in turn, her inane claim that ass-shaking is a South African thing.
The world discovers African stars later than their debut, and stars like Tyla and Starr had already gone on multiple tours before their breakout hits. Tyla debuted in 2019 with “Getting Late” (featuring Kooldrink), and Starr in 2021 with “Away”. Both became established acts in their various countries, often being complimented as the African dancing duo; nevertheless, Starr was undeniably the bigger star in 2023… until Water.
Water broke several records and went on to peak at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. This created public dissonance that emerged shortly after Tyla won the Grammy; it would be easy to say, ‘don’t compare the two top Afropop girls,’ but they were nominated in the same category. For many Africans, Starr came first; after all, she was the bigger one from 2021 to 2023. For Westerns, in the beginning, there was Water by Tyla.
Primarily, both face copycat allegations, with Tyla being compared to Rihanna, and Starr being compared to Tyla. However, this extends beyond African stars, as Stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter face comparisons to Taylor Swift. Alternative pop singers like Billie Eilish and Lorde are given the Lana Del Rey daughter tag, and there’s the ever-present assumption that every blonde girl is a Madonna copy.
Irrespective of the decade, the genre, the artiste’s words, and the discography, it is almost impossible to shake off the ‘you-are-not-an-original’ relationship consumers have with music… even Rihanna had to overcome the next-Beyoncé discourses. What is it that makes people constantly try to link newer acts to an older generation, and why is this phenomenon more prevalent in this generation?
GEN Z LOVE THEIR NOSTALGIA AND EVERYTHING NEW MUST BE OLD:
Digi-cams, Y2K style, every red carpet being an archival catalogue, and the resurgence of Friends; Gen Z certainly loves its nostalgia, and statistically, no other generation is as obsessed with the past as they are. Clay Routledge, an expert in existential psychology, explains that Gen Z’s love for nostalgia centres around two fundamental themes: Identity and stability.
“Gen Z isn’t simply copying old styles or romanticising bygone days; they’re actively reinterpreting and remixing elements of the past to develop distinctive forms of personal expression in the present,” he co-writes in a piece with Nicola Avis, Associate Director of Client Relations at discover.ai.
This is a powerful response to a world that often feels chaotic and uncertain. In fact, a recent study by the consumer insights firm GWI found that 57% of Gen Z consumers feel nostalgic, a significantly higher percentage than any other generation. A 2022 survey by Wunderman Thompson Intelligence revealed that 80% of Gen Z participants reported watching old TV shows and movies, with a particular fondness for content from the 1990s and early 2000s.
The reasons cited were a desire for comfort and a sense of “simpler times.” Streaming habits further evidence this. Platforms like Netflix have experienced a significant surge in viewership for older sitcoms, such as Friends and The Office, with Gen Z comprising a substantial portion of the audience.
Furthermore, technology is seeing a blast from the past. The revival of flip phones and digital cameras has been so pronounced that major brands are re-releasing them. In 2023, the BBC wrote that in the last three months of 2022, eBay UK saw an increase in people seeking the devices. This included a 13% rise in search traffic for “vintage digital camera” and a 52% rise for “refurbished camera”.
A recent trend analysis by Vogue Business showed that the American company’s sales of digital video cameras have surged by 700 per cent in 2024 over last year, with iPods jumping 637 per cent. Users prefer the “raw,” unfiltered look these devices provide over the polished aesthetic of modern smartphone cameras. The Nigerian space is no different, with thrifted e-commerce platforms like VYNT, and the oversaturation of Instagram thrift stores, a personal favourite is ilovenana_2000s and hemntzang.
Obsession with nostalgia does not live in a vacuum; the discourse surrounding Ayra Starr and Tyla not only reveals the complexities of cultural perception in the music industry but also taps into a sense of nostalgia for the cherished individuality of artists.
As both stars navigate accusations of imitation, their respective journeys are coloured by a longing for authentic representation in a world that often reduces them to comparisons. The nostalgia surrounding past music trends emphasises a desire for original voices that resonate with audiences on personal levels, a sentiment often overshadowed by the relentless comparisons of today.
Before you compare Tyla to Rihanna, perhaps ask yourself, when did any of Badgirlriri’s albums sound like an Afrobeats meets Amapiano pop compilation? And when you ask Ayra Starr to rebrand, are you implying that Tyla is the only African now allowed to shake ass? Then, if you look past the nostalgia smoke, you might actually get to discover a continent filled with beautiful sounds and dances.
