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| ©Annie Reid |
Tyla, a South African singer, has achieved immense success in 2023 with her breakout hit, Water. The song, which she describes as hypnotically seductive, has become the most-streamed Afrobeats song on Spotify and has earned her fourth place on the BBC's Sound Of 2024 list. Tyla, born and bred in Johannesburg, is of Indian, Zulu, Mauritian, and Irish descent. She knew she wanted to be a singer from the moment she performed (How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window in her school assembly.
Tyla spent her spare time auditioning for musicals, making up songs, and uploading Justin Bieber covers to YouTube. One of her videos caught the attention of a photographer named Garth von Glehn, who offered to manage her. Despite her parents' disapproval, Tyla decided to pursue her passion for music and give herself a year to break into the industry.
In 2019, Tyla released her debut single, Getting Late, casually creating a new genre called Popiano, which blends house music with reggae, jazz, and trunk-rattling kwaito bass lines. The song showcased her soulful, intimate delivery over a shimmering shaker-and-snare groove, but it lacked a music video, and Tyla lacked the resources to shoot one. Undeterred, she begged, borrowed, and called in favors to make it happen. Her manager became the director, and her best friend was the stylist.
Getting Late triggered an international record label billing war, with legendary music executive Sylvia Rhone putting up a billboard in Johannesburg to show her commitment. Rhone's promise of creative freedom was crucial to Tyla, as she didn't want to change her sound to break internationally.
Tyla left South Africa for the first time, touring with Chris Brown and dropping a series of sultry, pneumatic dance anthems. Her music lives in the compelling moments where attraction and temptation collide. On the boisterous Overdue, she harbors a secret crush, while the agitated beats of Been Thinking capture the anxious moment where she confesses her feelings.
Water is where the passion boils over as she guides a man back to her bedroom and instructs him to "Make me sweat, make me hotter / Make me lose my breath, make me water." The lyrics were inspired by Aaliyah's Rock The Boat, another bedroom anthem with an aquatic double-entendre. Still, the sound is all hers, with rattling log drums and South African slang phrases like Hayibo.
The song became a phenomenon on TikTok, where millions of fans copied Tyla's steamy Bacardi-style dance moves, which she accentuates by pouring water down her back. This trend spawned a craze where women would sit next to their boyfriends and play the song's opening bars. If they leaned in to catch a glimpse of Tyla's video, they faced shame and scorn.
Tyla takes no responsibility for subsequent break-ups, stating that she is not a part of all of this. She is grateful and blessed for being amongst all the other artists and greats.
