Beggie Beggie
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| "Beggie Beggie" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Ayra Starr featuring CKay | |
| from the album 19 & Dangerous | |
| Released | 6 August 2021 |
| Studio | Mavin Studios (Lagos, Nigeria) |
| Genre | Afropop, R&B |
| Length | 3:29 |
| Label | Mavin |
| Songwriters |
|
| Producer | Louddaaa |
| Music video | |
| "Beggie Beggie" on YouTube | |
"Beggie Beggie" is a song recorded by Nigerian singer-songwriter Ayra Starr featuring CKay, released on 6 August 2021 as part of her debut studio album, 19 & Dangerous. Written by Starr, her brother Oluwadamilare Aderibigbe, and CKay, and produced by Louddaaa, the afropop and R&B ballad depicts a woman pleading for a lover's attention while asserting her self-worth, told from both a female and male perspective.[1] It appears as the seventh track on the standard edition of the album.
The song received positive to mixed reviews from music critics, with descriptions ranging from "melancholy" and "hypnotizing" to "sonically unmemorable." Commercially, it debuted at number 35 on the TurnTable Top 100, peaking at number 26 and spending 12 weeks on the chart.[2] At the 15th Headies Awards in 2022, it received nominations for Best R&B Single and Best Collaboration.[3]
The accompanying music video, directed by Director K and released on 27 January 2022, was set against a Nollywood-inspired party backdrop and drew on early 2000s Nigerian fashion and aesthetics. Reception was also positive to mixed, with praise for its concept but criticism that its execution fell short of the song itself.[1]
In 2020, Ayra Starr signed a record deal with Mavin Records and began recording material for her debut studio album. The following year, she released her eponymous debut EP, which became a commercial success and paved the way for 19 & Dangerous (2021). The album blended afropop, R&B, trap and alté, and was largely a familial songwriting effort, with Starr and her brother, sometimes credited professionally as Milar, penning most of its tracks. "Beggie Beggie", which they co-wrote with CKay, appears as the seventh track on the album and one of only two collaborations on the standard edition, alongside "Snitch". Starr deliberately sought out CKay as a collaborator, stating she wanted, "like, a male POV on [the] story."[4] As with much of the album, "Beggie Beggie" was recorded at Mavin Studios, produced by Louddaaa, and mixed and mastered by Johnny Drille.[5]
"Beggie Beggie" is 3 minutes and 29 seconds long. It is a contemporary, afro-pop and R&B ballad driven by a minimalist acoustic guitar riff and a steady, laid-back afro-fusion percussion.[6][7] The song is composed in the key of C♯ minor and set in the time signature of common time with a mid-tempo of 100 beats per minute.[8] It has a chord progression of A–C♯m–B and Starr's vocal range spans from the low note of G♯3 to the high note of C♯5.[9] A writer of Sounds of Africa noted that it draws on the rhythms of traditional African music.[7] Its lyrics are in English, Yoruba, and Nigerian Pidgin.[10]
In contrast, "Beggie Beggie" marked a departure from Starr's earlier anthems of defiance and independence.[7] In a track-by-track breakdown of 19 & Dangerous, she described the song as thematically similar to another album cut, "Lonely", explaining that both explore the same emotional territory. She said the chorus reflects the humiliation of pleading with a lover, likening it to the desperation of street beggars, while also asserting her self-worth. She further described it as "a from-friends-to-lovers type of story."[4]
Critical reception
"Beggie Beggie" received positive to mixed responses from music critics. Tara Aquino of Rolling Stone described the song as a "melancholy Afropop ballad" driven by themes of longing, adding that it is "emblematic of the rest of the soulfully warm sound" that defines 19 & Dangerous. Aquino also observed that CKay "lends his vocals to balance out her POV."[11]
The Lagos Review's Aanuoluwa Odole regarded the track as one of the album’s more "hypnotizing" moments.[12] However, Afoma Andrea of IndustryMe was less impressed, writing that despite the chemistry between Starr and CKay, the track was "sonically unmemorable" and failed to reverse what she viewed as a downturn in the project's latter half.[13]
In a 2024 review of The Year I Turned 21, Blossom Maduafokwa of The Native linked "Lagos Love Story" back to "Beggie Beggie", writing that the later track "takes a leaf" from it in its depiction of young Nigerian romance.[14]
Accolades
At the 15th Headies Awards held on 4 September 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia, "Beggie Beggie" received two nominations: Best R&B Single and Best Collaboration.[3]
