Ayra Starr: How I battled imposter syndrome after releasing ‘Rush’

Ayra Starr, the Nigerian singer, has opened up about her struggle with imposter syndrome following the release of ‘Rush’, her hit song.

Imposter syndrome is a persistent feeling of inadequacy, despite evidence of one’s skills and accomplishments.

In a recent interview with Billboard, Ayra Starr said she had to be persuaded to release ‘Rush’ because she had doubts about the song.

“They had to convince me to put that song out because I was not sure,” she said.

When asked why she was not sure, the songstress said ‘Rush’ was different from her previously released records, adding that her team encouraged her to drop it.

She added that the song blew up as soon as it was debuted and she began to feel undeserving of the success.

“I put out different sounds all the time, but with ‘Rush’, it was different from anything I had put out before. I was like, ‘I am not sure I want to do this’, and everybody was like, ‘Trust me, Ayra, just trust your team’,” she said.

“And when it came out, it blew up immediately. Just from the snippet, like a 30-second snippet, it was already trending.

“I started to have imposter syndrome because nothing like that has ever happened to me. Like, I do not know if I deserve this.”

Ayra Starr released ‘Rush’, a track off her debut album ‘19 & Dangerous’, in September 2022.

The song was nominated in the maiden ‘Best African Music Performance’ category at this year’s Grammy Awards.

Ayra Starr, however, lost the category to Tyla, the South African singer.