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. 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. 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. Jones, meanwhile, built herself back up with the 2022 EP What I Didn’t Tell You. Standout tracks like “Double Back” and “ICU” mirror the pure origins of R&B — dizzying melodies, lovesick lyrics, full-bodied vocals.
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The latter song won her a Grammy for Best R&B Performance. She just put out a new single, “Sweep It Up,” and is preparing to release an album early next year. Not long ago, Jones invited Starr to a dinner in London. They met and bonded; they gushed about working together one day. And then they did: Starr recruited Jones and the Brazilian singer Anitta for guest spots on the empowering crew cut “Woman Commando,” off Starr’s latest album, this year’s excellent The Year I Turned 21. When Jones and Starr join each other for their Musicians on Musicians interview, the diasporic connection is apparent as they hug and rock like cousins do. As they talk, the singers huddle closely, asking each other how they navigate this world. Throughout the conversation they take us on a journey through failure, family, sleepless nights, dating, and how much their lives have changed in such a short amount of time.
