Latest news with #AyraStarr
The South African
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The South African
Ayra Starr joins Jay-Z's Roc Nation, but at what cost?
Nigerian star Ayra Starr has just signed a new management deal with Roc Nation , the record label founded by rapper Jay-Z. Fans are both excited and concerned about this recent milestone, expressing their honest thoughts on social media. Various sources online allege that the deal includes numerous strict clauses. If the rumours are true, could the clauses be concerning? Ayra Starr is a Nigerian singer-songwriter known for her Afropop and R&B sound. Her journey to fame began in 2019 when Don Jazzy discovered her on Instagram, leading to her signing with Mavin Records that same year. In 2021, she released her self-titled debut EP, which included the hit track ' Away ' which propelled her into the spotlight. Following this success, she launched her debut album, ' 19 & Dangerous ,' featuring the chart-topping single ' Bloody Samaritan .' The single made history as the first solo song by a Nigerian female artist to reach the number one spot. She gained international acclaim with the release of ' Rush ' in 2022. This singled earned her a Grammy nomination in 2024, showcasing her talent and opening doors for to incredible opportunities. One of which being a new deal with record label Roc Nation , founded by Jay-Z. Reports circulating online suggest that the deal comes with some stringent personal conditions. These include a ban on becoming pregnant for the next five years, a restriction on collaborations without Roc Nation 's consent, and a prohibition on having a boyfriend. Some of the rumours were however was declared as untrue in a recent X post by the singer herself. Futhermore, it's rumoured that the singer is to refrain from posting on social media without the label's approval. She is also restricted from dressing or speaking in ways that conflict with the label's brand strategy. When fans heard of about Ayra Starr joining Roc Nation , they had a few things to say. @funnewtonfun said: She's so going GLOBAL GLOBALLLLL another fan, @zeinymira commented: She joined the devil nation. It's still unclear what the exact terms and conditions of Ayra Starr's deal with Roc Nation are, but we are certain that this is big news for the Nigerian star. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ex-Raptors exec Masai Ujiri remains focused on humanitarian work as Giants of Africa Festival nears
NEW YORK (AP) — Masai Ujiri's July is shaping up to be quite the rollercoaster ride. The recently-fired former Toronto Raptors executive is navigating his sudden departure from a franchise where he'd spent 13 seasons while also launching the second edition of his private foundation's Giants of Africa Festival — all within a one-month span. The humanitarian work, Ujiri pledged, will continue regardless of his employment status. The British-born NBA executive, raised in his father's native Nigeria, founded Giants of Africa in 2003 — back when he was just starting off as a scout and long before becoming the first African team president of a professional North American sports franchise. 'It's an obligation for me,' Ujiri said. 'It's a passion.' The foundation's ambitions have risen with his own success. Giants of Africa has reached thousands of campers across 18 countries. It has helped build more than three dozen courts on the continent. High-profile supporters include Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's The Archewell Foundation. 2023's inaugural Giants of Africa Festival united more than 250 boys and girls around a week of basketball clinics, life skills lessons and community building that culminated in a concert headlined by South African superstar Tyla. The goal? A 'borderless Africa' as Ujiri likes to say. The festival returns to Kigali, Rwanda, on July 26 with a lineup featuring Nigerian pop singer Ayra Starr and WNBA great Candace Parker. Two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard — brought to Toronto by Ujiri for the team's championship-winning 2018-2019 season — will mentor campers and train underserved youth. Ujiri discussed the upcoming event, and his future, with The Associated Press. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: Why'd you expand Giants of Africa Festival 2025 to 320 young participants from 20 African nations? A: When we had the last festival, we really focused on — whether it was the basketball, the life skills, the coaching, the mentorship — we focused on culture. We focused on the whole ecosystem of how we feel kids need this opportunity to grow. It really inspired us to think about how we bring this to more countries. We're doing this incredible, incredible fashion show showing the print, the threads of Africa, and who we really are. It used to be weird where you'd see somebody wearing cloth from Africa. Now it's part of the fashion. It's part of us. It's just like Afrobeats — it's part of life everywhere. Everybody wants to wear a boubou. You see a lot of fashion designers from all over the world using our prints. We want to showcase that and give these youth the opportunity to see that this is how they can also expand their minds. Q: How does it feel to see basketball investments lead to the sport growing across the continent? A: It's been unbelievable. With these camps, it started off as basketball development, but you've seen that really become something that has really grown even bigger. I saw Pascal (Siakam), I saw (Joel) Embiid, I saw all these guys as youth in camps. Seeing them as 15-, 16-year-old kids in camp, you can't even project. And that tells you how much talent we have on the continent. I always say Africa's biggest jewel is the talent of the youth. One out of every four people in the world are going to be Africans by the year 2050 and the median age is 20. We should be investing on the continent. Q: How does Giants of Africa use sports to get the youth to consider different careers? A: I'm the prime example of that. I didn't play in the NBA. I didn't even play high-level college or high-level Europe. The entry point for me was a scout in the NBA. From then on lots of people helped me to create this path that I'm on still. I go back to Basketball Without Borders, when the NBA gave me the opportunity to be a director. That has led to me becoming an executive in the NBA. That's the example I want to give. That's why we have so many people coming to this festival to really show these kids — whether it's me or a journalist or a sports doctor or sports lawyer — there's so many careers. And the start is sports and doing it passionately and doing it well. Q: How did women's empowerment become a focus for the foundation's work? A: When I first started, I was doing boys camps. Not every kid is going to make it to the NBA. So we started focusing on life skills. That was teaching respect, honesty, being on time. One of the big focuses was respect for women. So, I'm challenging these boys but I'm not challenging myself. I can't say 'women's empowerment' and 'respect women' and just do these camps for boys. So, we introduced the girls. And it's not 50 boys and 10 girls just for token. It's equality. They all have a basketball and they have the same court time. We can't just say it. We actually have to do it. Q: What does your recent Toronto Raptors departure mean for your humanitarian work? A: Job, no job, wherever I am, whatever kind of job I'm doing, Giants of Africa is key. The focus will always be that just because I owe it to the youth of the continent. I owe it to the continent. My goal is not how big does Giants of Africa get. I look at it as: how big are these youth going to become? They'll go on to do other things. They could go on to become a president or become a governor or become president of a team. The hope is that this experience here will even make them reimagine many of the things that they want to do. So, Giants of Africa will never go anywhere. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit James Pollard, The Associated Press
The Independent
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Ex-Raptors exec Masai Ujiri remains focused on humanitarian work as Giants of Africa Festival nears
Masai Ujiri's July is shaping up to be quite the rollercoaster ride. The recently-fired former Toronto Raptors executive is navigating his sudden departure from a franchise where he'd spent 13 seasons while also launching the second edition of his private foundation's Giants of Africa Festival — all within a one-month span. The humanitarian work, Ujiri pledged, will continue regardless of his employment status. The British-born NBA executive, raised in his father's native Nigeria, founded Giants of Africa in 2003 — back when he was just starting off as a scout and long before becoming the first African team president of a professional North American sports franchise. 'It's an obligation for me,' Ujiri said. 'It's a passion.' The foundation's ambitions have risen with his own success. Giants of Africa has reached thousands of campers across 18 countries. It has helped build more than three dozen courts on the continent. High-profile supporters include Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's The Archewell Foundation. 2023's inaugural Giants of Africa Festival united more than 250 boys and girls around a week of basketball clinics, life skills lessons and community building that culminated in a concert headlined by South African superstar Tyla. The goal? A 'borderless Africa' as Ujiri likes to say. The festival returns to Kigali, Rwanda, on July 26 with a lineup featuring Nigerian pop singer Ayra Starr and WNBA great Candace Parker. Two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard — brought to Toronto by Ujiri for the team's championship-winning 2018-2019 season — will mentor campers and train underserved youth. Ujiri discussed the upcoming event, and his future, with The Associated Press. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: Why'd you expand Giants of Africa Festival 2025 to 320 young participants from 20 African nations? A: When we had the last festival, we really focused on — whether it was the basketball, the life skills, the coaching, the mentorship — we focused on culture. We focused on the whole ecosystem of how we feel kids need this opportunity to grow. It really inspired us to think about how we bring this to more countries. We're doing this incredible, incredible fashion show showing the print, the threads of Africa, and who we really are. It used to be weird where you'd see somebody wearing cloth from Africa. Now it's part of the fashion. It's part of us. It's just like Afrobeats — it's part of life everywhere. Everybody wants to wear a boubou. You see a lot of fashion designers from all over the world using our prints. We want to showcase that and give these youth the opportunity to see that this is how they can also expand their minds. Q: How does it feel to see basketball investments lead to the sport growing across the continent? A: It's been unbelievable. With these camps, it started off as basketball development, but you've seen that really become something that has really grown even bigger. I saw Pascal (Siakam), I saw (Joel) Embiid, I saw all these guys as youth in camps. Seeing them as 15-, 16-year-old kids in camp, you can't even project. And that tells you how much talent we have on the continent. I always say Africa's biggest jewel is the talent of the youth. One out of every four people in the world are going to be Africans by the year 2050 and the median age is 20. We should be investing on the continent. Q: How does Giants of Africa use sports to get the youth to consider different careers? A: I'm the prime example of that. I didn't play in the NBA. I didn't even play high-level college or high-level Europe. The entry point for me was a scout in the NBA. From then on lots of people helped me to create this path that I'm on still. I go back to Basketball Without Borders, when the NBA gave me the opportunity to be a director. That has led to me becoming an executive in the NBA. That's the example I want to give. That's why we have so many people coming to this festival to really show these kids — whether it's me or a journalist or a sports doctor or sports lawyer — there's so many careers. And the start is sports and doing it passionately and doing it well. Q: How did women's empowerment become a focus for the foundation's work? A: When I first started, I was doing boys camps. Not every kid is going to make it to the NBA. So we started focusing on life skills. That was teaching respect, honesty, being on time. One of the big focuses was respect for women. So, I'm challenging these boys but I'm not challenging myself. I can't say 'women's empowerment' and 'respect women' and just do these camps for boys. So, we introduced the girls. And it's not 50 boys and 10 girls just for token. It's equality. They all have a basketball and they have the same court time. We can't just say it. We actually have to do it. Q: What does your recent Toronto Raptors departure mean for your humanitarian work? A: Job, no job, wherever I am, whatever kind of job I'm doing, Giants of Africa is key. The focus will always be that just because I owe it to the youth of the continent. I owe it to the continent. My goal is not how big does Giants of Africa get. I look at it as: how big are these youth going to become? They'll go on to do other things. They could go on to become a president or become a governor or become president of a team. The hope is that this experience here will even make them reimagine many of the things that they want to do. So, Giants of Africa will never go anywhere. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
Al Arabiya
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Arabiya
Ex-raptors exec Masai Ujiri remains focused on humanitarian work
Masai Ujiri's July is shaping up to be quite the rollercoaster ride. The recently fired former Toronto Raptors executive is navigating his sudden departure from a franchise where he'd spent 13 seasons while also launching the second edition of his private foundation's Giants of Africa Festival – all within a one-month span. The humanitarian work Ujiri pledged will continue regardless of his employment status. The British-born NBA executive raised in his father's native Nigeria founded Giants of Africa in 2003 – back when he was just starting off as a scout and long before becoming the first African team president of a professional North American sports franchise. 'It's an obligation for me,' Ujiri said. 'It's a passion.' The foundation's ambitions have risen with his own success. Giants of Africa has reached thousands of campers across 18 countries. It has helped build more than three dozen courts on the continent. High-profile supporters include Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's The Archewell Foundation. 2023's inaugural Giants of Africa Festival united more than 250 boys and girls around a week of basketball clinics life skills lessons and community building that culminated in a concert headlined by South African superstar Tyla. The goal? A borderless Africa as Ujiri likes to say. The festival returns to Kigali Rwanda on July 26 with a lineup featuring Nigerian pop singer Ayra Starr and WNBA great Candace Parker. Two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard – brought to Toronto by Ujiri for the team's championship-winning 2018-2019 season – will mentor campers and train underserved youth. Ujiri discussed the upcoming event and his future with The Associated Press. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: Why'd you expand Giants of Africa Festival 2025 to 320 young participants from 20 African nations? A: When we had the last festival we really focused on – whether it was the basketball the life skills the coaching the mentorship – we focused on culture. We focused on the whole ecosystem of how we feel kids need this opportunity to grow. It really inspired us to think about how we bring this to more countries. We're doing this incredible incredible fashion show showing the print the threads of Africa and who we really are. It used to be weird where you'd see somebody wearing cloth from Africa. Now it's part of the fashion. It's part of us. It's just like Afrobeats – it's part of life everywhere. Everybody wants to wear a boubou. You see a lot of fashion designers from all over the world using our prints. We want to showcase that and give these youth the opportunity to see that this is how they can also expand their minds. Q: How does it feel to see basketball investments lead to the sport growing across the continent? A: It's been unbelievable. With these camps it started off as basketball development but you've seen that really become something that has really grown even bigger. I saw Pascal (Siakam) I saw (Joel) Embiid I saw all these guys as youth in camps. Seeing them as 15- 16-year-old kids in camp you can't even project. And that tells you how much talent we have on the continent. I always say Africa's biggest jewel is the talent of the youth. One out of every four people in the world are going to be Africans by the year 2050 and the median age is 20. We should be investing on the continent. Q: How does Giants of Africa use sports to get the youth to consider different careers? A: I'm the prime example of that. I didn't play in the NBA. I didn't even play high-level college or high-level Europe. The entry point for me was a scout in the NBA. From then on lots of people helped me to create this path that I'm on still. I go back to Basketball Without Borders when the NBA gave me the opportunity to be a director. That has led to me becoming an executive in the NBA. That's the example I want to give. That's why we have so many people coming to this festival to really show these kids – whether it's me or a journalist or a sports doctor or sports lawyer – there's so many careers. And the start is sports and doing it passionately and doing it well. Q: How did women's empowerment become a focus for the foundation's work? A: When I first started I was doing boys camps. Not every kid is going to make it to the NBA. So we started focusing on life skills. That was teaching respect honesty being on time. One of the big focuses was respect for women. So I'm challenging these boys but I'm not challenging myself. I can't say women's empowerment and respect women and just do these camps for boys. So we introduced the girls. And it's not 50 boys and 10 girls just for token. It's equality. They all have a basketball and they have the same court time. We can't just say it. We actually have to do it. Q: What does your recent Toronto Raptors departure mean for your humanitarian work? A: Job no job wherever I am whatever kind of job I'm doing Giants of Africa is key. The focus will always be that just because I owe it to the youth of the continent. I owe it to the continent. My goal is not how big does Giants of Africa get. I look at it as: how big are these youth going to become? They'll go on to do other things. They could go on to become a president or become a governor or become president of a team. The hope is that this experience here will even make them reimagine many of the things that they want to do. So Giants of Africa will never go anywhere.
Evening Standard
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
Coldplay's roving 'kiss cam' spots boss with colleague as they duck for cover
The viral moment took place during Coldplay's Music of the Spheres world tour, which has already pulled in over £100 million in earnings this year. The band's tenth studio album, Moon Music, is expected later this year, featuring collaborations with Burna Boy and Ayra Starr.
