Tyla

Tyla has a sound that isn’t heard every day. It’s not pure pop nor traditional amapiano, but a blend that feels fresh and sticky at the same time. Her songs often start with a gentle rhythm, almost as if they’re leading you by the hand, but suddenly that groove explodes, making your feet move without thinking. What’s most interesting is how she makes the local sound universal: she takes elements from her native South Africa and blends them with global influences, never losing the essence that makes her instantly recognizable.

Everything changed when she released Water in 2023. It wasn’t just another track on the radio: it became the first single by a South African artist to enter the Billboard Hot 100 in over half a century. What’s curious is that she didn’t plan it that way. Before that, she had already caught attention with Getting Late in 2019, a song she recorded between makeshift studios during the pandemic, which ended up being nominated for Best Video at the South African Music Awards. But Water was different: it didn’t just climb international charts—it also earned her the first Grammy for Best African Performance in the awards’ history.