‘Water’: South African Tyla wins Grammy with viral song
South African diva, Tyla: wins the Grammy for the Best African Music Performance with her viral hit, Water.
South African diva, Tyla on Sunday beats Nigerian Asake, Davido Ayra Star and other to win the Grammy for the Best African Music Performance with her global viral hit, Water.
The 2023 hit, Water was top of the charts across 16 countries including the United Kingdom and the United States.
To win the Grammy, Tyla’s Water beats Amapiano by Asake and Olamide, City Boy by Burna Boy and South African diva, Tyla: wins the Grammy for the Best African Music Performance with her viral hit, Water.
Her single, “Water” is not just a global hit but also a song that can hold its own anywhere, anytime.
Aside from the fact that it has taken over the streets globally, three days after the visual debuted on YouTube on 7 October 2023, it surpassed more than three million views. Less than a year after the video was released it has garnered more than 130 million views.
And after spawning a frenzy on social media and a viral dance challenge on TikTok, it also entered the top ten in sixteen countries including the United Kingdom.
Yet, the singer, songwriter and dancer is much in demand everywhere, the song is on everyone’s lips and she is the beautiful bride every artiste wants to identify with.
After inking a deal with Epic record label, she joined Chris Brown as the opening act for his Under the Influence Tour. She performed the song live on The Bianca Show in Sweden and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the United States.
And just as she said to the American host, Seacrest, after she had performed in front of hundreds of thousands of people at New York’s Times Square, and with more than one billion people watching from around the world on New Year Eve last year, she is taking it in 2024. And that means Grammy is not far away.
“This year literally changed my whole life,” she told him. “So 2023; I’m going to remember this year forever – and I feel like it was a warm-up for next year because I’m taking it in 2024.”
Taking it in 2024? Still, the questions begging for answers are: Who is Tyla? Who is this young artiste who identifies herself as a coloured – an assertion that sparked a backlash in the United States? Where is this confidence, this audacity coming from? What is the secret to her success?
Tyla who is mixed race – since she is of Zulu, Asian, Mauritian and Irish descent – was born a singer. She knew right from the outset that she wanted to be not just a musician but a global star. And she was determined to achieve it.
She proved her insatiable hunger to sing and perform right from a young age. At 10 she belted songs for her primary school. There was a day she sang “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window’ for her primary school and her grand mum was screaming in the crowd. And at 12 she wrote her first lyrics in a diary her mother had given her.
“I was born a singer. I’ve always gravitated towards it. I would tell everybody that I was going to be a pop star. Ever since I was] really small, I listened to all genres of music, danced and made up shows for my family or wrote songs for my mom and dad’s birthdays.
“I wrote my first lyrics in a diary my mom gave me when I was 12 years old and would sing them over YouTube beats. Then I started recording and posting videos of original songs and covers, like Beyoncé and Boyz II Men, on TikTok and Instagram.”
As though that was not enough, she betrayed so much passion, determination and enthusiasm even at that early age. She started reaching out to people across the country, sending them her original music as well as covers.
“I started DMing tons of people across the industry my original music and covers. I’ve always been very ambitious. If I want something, I make sure I get it. I just thought they would reply, and I’d be flown out and blow up like Justin Bieber.
Best African Music Performance is one of three brand new categories debuting at the 2024 Grammy Awards, along with Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Pop Dance Recording. Kylie Minogue won the latter award.
