'It's more than just Afrobeats': Tyla addresses limitations put on African music
Tyla, a South African musician, has had a big year with the viral release of her popular song 'Water'— and at the 2024 MTV VMAs on Wednesday, she won in the Best Afrobeats category.
Tyla wins at 2024 MTV VMAs. Picture credit: Instagram @tyla
JOHANNESBURG - "African music is going global, and I'm grateful to be one of the musicians driving the culture."
These are the gleeful words of South African songstress Tyla - who has had a massive year with the release of her global hit Water.
She was speaking from the 2024 MTV VMAs stage, in New York, on Wednesday, after accepting the Moonpoerson award for the Best Afrobeats category.
The 22-year-old expressed her pride in representing her continent and poured cold water on the tendency to limit African music.
"The global impact that Water has had on the world just proves that African music can be pop music too. This is just so special, but also bittersweet because I know there's a tendency to group all African artists under Afrobeats," said Tyla.
She added: "It's a thing, and even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse. It's more than just Afrobeats."
She touched on the amapiano musical genre, stating that she comes from South Africa to represent it.
Tyla also took the opportunity to shout out some of her peers and fellow nominees in the Afrobeats category.
At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, she received the Best African Music Performance Grammy.
This made her the youngest-ever South African Grammy winner.