With a monster hit single, a Grammy and a global push from her label, she's bringing her alluring take
When South African singer-songwriter Tyla turned 22 years old in late January, she was on top of the world — literally.
Her label, Epic Records, invited a few hundred music executives, artists and fans to Harriet’s Rooftop in West Hollywood, Calif., for her birthday bash. The party was a dual celebration: Tyla had also recently scored her first Grammy Award nomination, for best African music performance — one of three new categories the Recording Academy introduced this year — with her 2023 breakthrough hit, “Water.”
Waiters surprised Tyla — who had transformed a corner of the rooftop bar into her own private VIP section, complete with glam shots of herself decorating the walls — with a glittery sheet cake. Epic chairwoman/CEO Sylvia Rhone and president Ezekiel Lewis presented her with three plaques commemorating the success of “Water”: gold and platinum certifications in over 18 countries (including the United States and South Africa); surpassing 1 billion views on TikTok; and reaching No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs, Rhythmic Airplay and Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts.
Then, five nights later, Tyla got the best belated birthday present of all: her first Grammy, the inaugural win in its category, which Jimmy Jam presented to her during the awards show’s premiere ceremony. “I was in such shock,” Tyla recalls on an early March afternoon. “It’s something that a lot of people strive toward and want to win at least once in their lifetime. And I’m so blessed to have received one so early in my career.”
But for an artist reflecting on such a joyous moment, Tyla sounds a bit blue speaking to me about her Grammy win today — and understandably so. Just six hours before our chat, she had posted a letter on Instagram announcing the kind of news no young artist wants to reveal: Due to “an injury that’s tragically worsened,” she would be delaying her first headlining North American and European tour and dropping out of a handful of festivals, including Coachella. “It’s difficult because I want to go. It’s the moment that I’ve been waiting for,” she tells me. “It’s not an easy decision, but it’s the right decision.”
Four days later at her Billboard cover shoot, Tyla maintains a level of poise that suggests nothing’s wrong. She gamely plays the part of the glamorous burgeoning pop star, in a fur-print puffer jacket, bra top and mismatched gold hoops that complement the edginess of her eyebrow slit.
This is, after all, a role Tyla has prepared for her whole life. Her co-manager, Colin Gayle, clearly remembers his first meeting with her: “I was like, ‘What do you want to do?’ She said, ‘I want to be Africa’s first pop star.’ ” Gayle, who is also co-founder and CEO of Africa Creative Agency, had recently moved to South Africa when Brandon Hixon — the New York-based co-founder of FAX Records who started managing Tyla in 2018 after discovering her on Instagram — reached out to see if he would meet with Tyla and consider becoming her on-the-ground support. By 2020, Gayle had joined her management team.
As a new generation of young African women has broken into mainstream pop music over the past few years (including Beninese Nigerian singer Ayra Starr, whom Tyla collaborated with on “Girl Next Door,” and fellow South African DJ Uncle Waffles, whom she performed with in September in New York), Tyla has emerged with a unique blend of sounds dubbed “popiano” — a hybrid of pop, R&B and Afrobeats with the shakers, rattling log drums and soulful piano melodies of amapiano. It really popped when she released “Water,” a summer anthem with a sweltering pop/R&B hook (and a subtle sensuality recalling Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat”) that floats over bubbling log drums.
“Water” opened the floodgates to the global recognition of Tyla’s dreams. The song debuted at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October and by January had reached a No. 7 peak. Its viral TikTok dance helped catapult the track onto radio, and Travis Scott and Marshmello eagerly hopped on its remixes. “Water” hit No. 1 on U.S. Afrobeats Songs in October, ending the record 58-week reign of Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down,” and it has now spent 24 weeks (and counting) atop the chart. Tyla’s catalog has earned 283.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate — and “Water” is responsible for 236.7 million of them.
On the morning of Nov. 10, 2023, Tyla’s Epic team told her to tune in to the Grammy nominations livestream from her hotel room in New York. “I didn’t even know the label submitted some songs,” she recalls. “When I saw my name, I was like, ‘There’s no way.’ My best friend was jumping in the room with me. I still have the video, and I’m wearing this bodysuit that’s half open. It’s a hectic video, but it showcases the excitement in that moment.”
This year’s best African music performance nominees were predominantly Nigerian artists — Burna Boy (“City Boys”), Davido (“Unavailable”), Asake and Olamide (“Amapiano”) and Starr (“Rush”). Tyla and Musa Keys (who’s featured on Davido’s “Unavailable”) were the only South African acts. Considering the significant inroads Afrobeats has made in the American music market over the last decade, Tyla’s win with an amapiano song wasn’t necessarily likely.
“That category is something that was introduced in my lifetime, and I was the first person to win it. And I’m able to bring it home back to South Africa,” Tyla marvels now, adding that her father has already claimed the trophy to be displayed in his study, along with the rest of her award hardware. “The South African genre of amapiano just started bubbling, and I’m so proud that South Africa has a genre that people are enjoying and paying attention to. I’m super proud of my country and where our sound has gone.”
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