South African songstress Tyla has, in recent times, been dominating more space in the media following her victory at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 4, 2024, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
Tyla had reportedly won herself a Grammy award in the category of “Best African Music Performance” with her song “Water,” which gave rise to the popular and exciting “Water” dance challenge that trended on TikTok and a few other social media platforms from the second quarter of 2023 until shortly after the 66th Grammy award ceremony, which was held on February 4.
Tyla, upon earning herself a Grammy win and becoming the first recipient of the inaugural Best African Music Performance Grammy Award, has drawn so much more attention to herself from teaming fans both home and in the diaspora who now yearn to know more about her. If you fall into this category, then you are in the right place because this article will expose you to a few things you probably didn’t know about the South African singer, Tyla.
Tyla, who was born on January 30, 2002, and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, comes from a family of Zulu, Indian, and Mauritian descent commonly described as “colored.” She is originally Tyla Laura Seethal and was first discovered by a certain Garth von Glehn, who was her first manager. She attended Edenglen High School in South Africa, where she reportedly also began her music career in 2019. Tyla used to cry for her parents to let her focus on her music, but they would not let her. When they eventually did, luck shone on her.
Tyla’s artistic style and unusual prowess of blending amapiano with Afropop give her an edge, facilitating her ability to clinch her most recent win at the Grammys, amongst other achievements, and sweeping out music legends and age-long names in the African music industry to acquire this significant and historical feat. Not only did Tyla emerge as the winner at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, but her song “Water” also buzzed to become the first African song to make an entry into the Billboard Hot 100 in over 55 years since 1968, ranking no. 7. This feat also placed Tyla on the chart as the highest African female solo musician in Billboard history.
Besides emerging as the winner of the 2024 Grammy’s “Best African Music Performance” category, Tyla blew hot to also win the South African Style Awards 2024 as “The Most Stylish Performing Artist.”
Sequel to the boom in Tyla’s music career in recent years coupled with her emergence as winner in the category of Best African Music Performance with her shimmering song “Water,” the songster has been strategically positioned in the limelight for both national and global recognition. She has been nominated for 8 different awards, both within and outside the country, and has grabbed, in her winning spirit, 3 of these awards, while 2 are still pending with 3 other nominations yet to be held. She emerged as the winner in the following:
- African Entertainment Award USA, 2023, as the “best female artist.”
- Grammy Award 2024 as the “Best African Music Performance,” where she was nominated alongside her fellow African entertainment heavyweights, Ayra Starr, Burna Boy, Davido, Asake, and Olamide.
- South African Style Award 2024, where she emerged as “the most stylish performing artist” for the year.
She is signed under ‘Epic Records’, an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, which is also the United States division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.
