Joy Keys chats with Singer Ayo about her album Royal

Ayo (born as Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin in Frechen near Cologne, Germany) is a Nigerian-German singer-songwriter.

She recorded her first album Joyful in January 2006 in the New York Sony studio. Her debut album Joyful reached Double-Platinum status in France, Platinum in Germany and Poland, Gold status in Switzerland and Italy and Greece. The album was released in the United States on 20 November 2007 by Interscope Records.

On her American tour she performed with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. In January 2008 she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, and on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, performing her song Down on My Knees. 

On 10 March 2008 Ayo started recording on her second album Gravity At Last . She co-produced the album with Jay Newland. The album reached number 1 on the French album charts in October 2008.

The French production company MK2 produced 2009 the film Ayo, a 90 minute documentary about the singer and her life. The film was directed by Raphaël Duroy.

Ayo's third album named after her daughter Billie-Eve was released in March 2011.

Royal is both a new beginning and a homecoming, guided by Ayo's instinctive faith. "My main inspiration is God" she explains. But not from a theological point of view. Allah, Yaveh, Buddha, Jah... Whatever his name, he has always been there, before the invention of religions. Everything that is royal like faith and love is God.” What better way to face this sometimes cruel and difficult world? The result is a record that strives for serenity, that explores the possibility of being whoever you want to be, wherever you come from.