When I speak to Ayra Starr in May, she has been away from Lagos for four months—the longest she's been out of the city she calls home in years.
Born in Benin to Nigerian parents, Starr recalls arriving in the bustling maze of Lagos at age 13, overwhelmed but filled with hope for what the city could offer her. “I remember my mom telling me, You can chase your dreams in Lagos,” Starr tells me, “this is where dreams are made.” It turned out to be true. Starr, whose real name is Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe, recorded her first EP at 18 years old, and her songs have topped charts in Nigeria and globally since.
We sat down with the “Rush” singer—who most recently appeared on a track with Tyla, titled “Girl Next Door”— to talk about the city that has played such a leading role in her life. Below, Starr shares the food she longs for when she's touring, her favorite beaches to show visitors, and the jazz bar she stays at way past closing time.
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How would you sum up what you love about Lagos?
I just love how everything is so nonstop. Even at 3 a.m. there's traffic somewhere. At 5 a.m., there's a party going on somewhere. It's just nonstop, beautiful chaos. It can be annoying, but you have to appreciate Lagos for what it is. Whenever I'm in Lagos I feel so regenerated.
And I love the food, of course.
What's the first thing you eat when you go home to Lagos?
Fried yam and eggs. I usually make them myself, but that's something you can find everywhere in Lagos, even in a fast food restaurant. Also àmàlà and ofada rice.
Where would you send someone for breakfast—fried yam and eggs, or otherwise?
A breakfast place I like is Toasties, they have really good sandwiches with African foods and seasoning inside. I like the Shaki sandwich [tripe], there's also the Asun which is a goat meat sandwich. If I wake up early, and in a good mood, I think, Okay, let me have a sandwich.
It's the weekend at lunchtime. Where are you going?
I usually go to this place, Food Shack, where I get fried chicken wings and fried plantains. The pepper on the wings is so spicy, so hot. Me and my friends park in front of the restaurant and play music in the car. They bring the food to us because they know me.
I can't really have àmàlà for lunch, even though it's my top food, because it's so heavy and I can't work after—and usually, I work on the weekends too. It's a typical Yoruba dish of stewed meat and dried yams and plantains, and it's very celebratory, like jollof rice. If I do something good, I go get some àmàlà. That's something I never make at home. Aside from the local places where you can get real, authentic àmàlà, like on the mainland, NOK is the best place. It's expensive, but I do like it there. I hope they'll lower their prices when they see this! There's also a woman by the roadside on Saka Tinubu, it's very low key, and the food is so good it's ridiculous.
In between meals, how do you like to spend time in the city?
I used to go thrift shopping at places like Katangua. It was so cheap and I could buy crazy ‘fits. Now I go to the mall. There's also Nike Art Gallery, it's very African, and Kó—that's the first gallery I ever went to, and it's so beautiful. Everyone's there.
Where do you head for dinner?
I like The House restaurant. That's our proper hangout place. It's made like a house, with different rooms with a couch, and a TV, so my friends and I get the room that looks like a living room. We can play video games and they have really good food there. They have these potato chips that are so good, I always ask them to pack some up for me.
After dinner, what's your go-to spot for a night out?
I usually don't drink, but W Bar is where people go to drink and dance a bit. I go to Oti's. It's a jazz club, very low-key, and it's run by this older man. He loves me and my friends because we're all musicians. So we go there to hang out, we get to play the piano, and all the music they play is old—like records of Nina Simone. He has pictures of when Nina Simone was in Lagos, and other historic people who have been there in the jazz club. It's very old school. We'll hang out ‘til like 3 a.m. even though they technically close earlier. He lets us stay and makes great coffee.
If you have a friend visiting, do you have a special spot you take them to?
That place I mentioned with the chicken wings? Sometimes we'll buy the food and go to an empty beach where we can sit on the rocks and eat. We talk, we laugh, we make videos. Most of the beach is really good—like Ilashe Beach, or this stretch we call Lighthouse Beach because there's a view of a lighthouse. I usually hire a ‘banana boat’, which is just a small boat, and the boys in charge of it will build a tent, and catch and grill fish for you. You just show up at the beach and can find someone to hire for the day.
Any side trips outside the city that you recommend?
Landmark Beach is another nice one, good for the day but you can also stay overnight. It's a 50-minute yacht ride from the heart of Lagos to Ilashe or Landmark beaches [Ilashe connects to the mainland; Landmark is on Lagos Island]. Lakowe is far from the city, but people will go just for the weekend to chill, to play golf. I've never been but it always looks so beautiful.
Is there a part of the city you wish more people spent time in?
I wish people that came to Lagos went more to the mainland than just the island; the island is beautiful, but it's made to look that way. When you go to the mainland, you feel everything is more authentic. There are safe places you can drive to on the mainland, like Ikeja, Magodo. I grew up in Ijaiye which is safe and very local, but it's far. On the island, food is in a proper building or restaurant, but on the mainland you'll find people cooking outside, and people are buying it right as the lady is cooking the next batch—try food like ofada rice, or àmàlà from a local vendor.
What do you think people misunderstand about the city?
I used to be ‘people,’ I used think Lagos had too much noise, or too much going on, but everything is for a reason. You have to jump into the rhythm of Lagos to understand Lagos, or you can feel very out of place. But if you understand the rhythm of Lagos, there's not too much going on. You have to know where to go, how to avoid traffic, you need to always have cash with you, these are the types of things you have to understand about Lagos to really enjoy Lagos.
It's not the kind of city you can visit for only one day. I feel like everybody that comes to Lagos always wants to stay longer.
