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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />Aderibigbe began singing, and would later take the stage name Ayra Starr. Her debut album, 2021’s 19 & 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.
