About a year ago, Tyla publicly performed for the first time at a Dolce & Gabbana after party during the Milan Fashion Week in Italy. Her debut performance has been followed by a roller coaster of events, milestones, and laurels.
Tyla Laura Seethal better known by the stage name Tyla was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her family is a mix of Zulu, Indian, Irish, and Mauritian descent.
She spent her early days listening to music from artists like Wizkid, Rihanna, Drake, and Micheal Jackson. Like a natural law, Tyla started mimicking some of these artists. She belts her vocals, striving to replicate their fashion style however she was more drawn to their artistic side.
She was the head of culture in her secondary school (Edenglen High School). Her interest in art continues as she uploads covers of songs on Instagram, sending some of them to industry players and major label executives.
Garth von Glehn, the celebrated New York-based director and photographer heard one of the songs and instantly became her manager. His wealth of experience comes in handy for Tyla’s artistic growth.
By the last quarter of 2019, Tyla released “Getting Late,” a bridge of sounds. The slow burner track became one of the “pandemic hits ” in 2020, the song which had input from singer Kooldrink and served as the opener to Tyla’s artistry. “Getting Late,” soundtracked many videos on Tiktok. The song currently has over eight million views on YouTube.
By 2021, the combination of music and her university education became too much for her so she dropped out of the university to pursue her music fully. She later signed a record deal with Epic Records, an imprint of Sony Music Entertainment.
The uptempo, DJ Lag & Kooldrink assisted “Overdue,” which served as her debut single under the label. By 2022, Tyla explored Amapiano on the love-centric “To Last.”
“Be Thinking,” “Girl Next Door,” and “Water,” were all released in 2023. “Water,” which has been streamed more than three hundred million times on Spotify remains Tyla’s biggest song ever with American rapper Travis Scott delivering a verse on its remix. This further helped the song penetrate the United States of America market.
The success of “Water,” has put Tyla and South Africa on the global map. The song entered the Billboard Hot 100, she also performed it during her appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”. In the last quarter of 2023, she got nominated alongside Nigerian stars like Davido, Asake, and Ayra Starr at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards for the inaugural Best African Music Performance category.
On February 5, 2024, she became the first person to win the Afrobeat category with “Water.”
Also, Tyla became the youngest-ever African artist to win a Grammy Award at 22.
Tyla has a lot of artistic years ahead of her, and with the right tutelage coupled with the financial muscle from Epic Records, there is no doubt that she will be here for a long time.