"Water", and a Sound Nobody Outside Africa Had Charted Before
Tyla Laura Seethal's 2023 single "Water" fused amapiano, the percussive South African house style, with radio-ready pop songwriting — and became a genuine global hit, reaching audiences that had little to no prior exposure to the genre.
In 2024, it earned her the first-ever Grammy for Best African Music Performance, a category the Recording Academy created partly in response to how undeniable Afrobeats and amapiano had become internationally.
Not a One-Song Story
Rather than chasing a repeat of "Water" specifically, Tyla has kept building out a fuller pop identity — "Push 2 Start," and in 2026, "She Did It Again" and "CHANEL" — songs that keep the amapiano rhythm section but stretch her range as a vocalist and performer.
At barely into her twenties, she's become one of the most visible ambassadors South African pop has ever had on the global stage — a responsibility she's said she doesn't take lightly.