Last night Tyla walked away with the Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance for her smash hit track song “Water.”
This is the inaugural year for the category which included nominees Asake and Olamide (“Amapiano”), Ayra Starr “Rush”), Burna Boy (“City Boys”), and Davido featuring Musa Keys (“Unavailable”).
With all due respect to the other nominees though, this was Tyla’s to lose. One look at the stats for “Water” and you’ll understand why. It’s hit the top five in dozens of countries, and ended 2023 as the most-streamed Afrobeats song on Spotify. Tyla became the first South African solo artist to enter the Billboard charts in 55 years, and more recently she was awarded for a billion views on TikTok, 3 times platinum in South Africa and platinum and counting in the US. Not bad. I’d say.
“Water” will also be included on Tyla’s self-titled debut album, which is out March 22.
Watch her acceptance speech below and allow yourself to feel overwhelmingly proud of South African artists slaying all over the world.
Listen to Texx’s interview on Cape Talk with Sara-Jayne where she discusses Tyla’s meteoric rise.
