Glamorous music video shoots; Grammy hangs with SZA and H.E.R.; sitting next to Kim Kardashian on the front row at Dolce & Gabbana\u2019s Fashion Week show: it\u2019s safe to say that Tyla\u2019s been busy recently. This flurry of activity has followed the January release of the Johannesburg native\u2019s hypnotic hit \u2018Been Thinking\u2019, which was co-produced by Grammy-winning hit-maker Tricky Stewart (who has previously worked with Beyonc\u00e9 and Rihanna). The track seamlessly blends R&B with elements of Amapiano \u2014 the South African-born genre that fuses African melodies, jazz, piano melodies and deep house music \u2014 bringing the latter sound, and its creator, further into the global spotlight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would tell everybody that I was going to be a pop star. My parents hoped I would grow out of it, but I never did,\u201d Tyla tells NME about her longstanding music ambitions when we meet in New York. \u201cNo matter who asked me what I wanted to be, I\u2019d always say singer. My answer never changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tyla\u2019s first brush with songwriting came when her mother gifted her a diary, in which she penned her first lyrics that she later paired with YouTube beats. Honing her soulful vocal register by recording covers of tracks by Aaliyah, Beyonc\u00e9 and Brian McKnight, it was only when she finally decided to share her own music online that her \u201chobby\u201d transformed into a full-time pursuit. \u201cI was posting my videos on Instagram and TikTok and sending them to literally everybody\u2019s DMs\u2026 it was kind of embarrassing,\u201d she says now with a laugh. \u201cI was sending them to Drake, DJ Khaled, to everyone, just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those messages to the stars may have been left on read, but Tyla\u2019s persistent social media strategy ultimately paid off when she received a message from her future manager. This interaction eventually led to her pulsating October 2019 debut single \u2018Getting Late\u2019, a collaboration with Johannesburg producer Kooldrink that introduced the world to Tyla\u2019s distinctive mix of delicate pop melodies and percussive slow-tempo Amapiano. The outcome was hugely impressive, with the track racking up over four million Spotify streams and pushing Amapiano to new audiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very determined,\u201d Tyla adds of her desire for further international success. \u201cIf I want something, I make sure I get it. There\u2019s a point where things become hard and you wonder if it\u2019s going to work. But I always knew that things were going to work out eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
NME: What was the moment when you felt your music career was finally starting to take off?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe breakthrough was definitely when we released the video for \u2018Getting Late\u2019. It was the first Amapiano-type song we recorded and we knew it was the one we wanted to release, [but] then COVID started so it was the worst timing ever. We decided to shoot a video even though we were independent: we had nothing to work with, my manager pitched in his personal money and the video took a year to finish. It was a long process. There were times when I was like, \u2018Let\u2019s just drop the footage we have\u2019, but my manager kept me patient because he saw the vision. We ended up making an amazing video. When we dropped it, I remember everyone retweeting it and my Instagram blowing up, then [record] labels started calling and I was like, \u2018What the hell?\u2019. I didn\u2019t even know that that\u2019s how it works. I signed to Epic, and that\u2019s when everything else started.\u201d<\/p>\n
How does it feel to be part of a movement that\u2019s bringing Amapiano, and South African pop music, to the rest of the world?<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it \u2014 it\u2019s what I wanted. I\u2019m super-proud of myself. I know this is the time when I\u2019m just starting, but I know that it\u2019s also the time when I have to really work because I want to make my home proud. It\u2019s a lot to put on your shoulders, but that\u2019s what I want. I really want eyes on all African artists in general, because we need more attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
What are some of the key things about the culture, music and creativity of South Africa that people who aren\u2019t from there wouldn\u2019t know?<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel like everything is so new and everyone is different, but we have a vibe that comes with us. Like Amapiano, it\u2019s a whole genre we created back home in South Africa and it has dance moves: it\u2019s a whole movement. We\u2019ve been partying with it by ourselves, but now other people are enjoying it and I\u2019m loving that. I love that people are seeing a different side of Africa. People are seeing it for what it is, and the artistry and creativity that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve previously described your music as \u201cpopiano\u201d. What are some of the pop influences you fuse together with Amapiano to create that sound?<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up listening to everything and loving all genres. I love singing, but I wanted to make it more me. In South Africa, I get down to Amapiano music and Afrobeats music, it\u2019s what I enjoy most. When I first started making Amapiano music, originally there was no song structure: the songs were like five minutes and just vibes. But I really wanted to have a structure \u2014 a verse, chorus, pre-chorus \u2014 like pop music, so I shortened the songs, kept the log drum and just gave it structure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you think that your pop spin on Amapiano is helping it spread to more people across the globe?<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely. I think about language as well: a lot of Amapiano singers sing in Zulu, which is the best, but when people don\u2019t understand it, it\u2019s more difficult for people to take it in. I really wanted to sing in Zulu a bit, but also in English so people can relate to the lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve had a strong vision for your career since you were young. How are you continuing to stay true to yourself today?<\/p>\n
\u201cI always know what I want and I trust [myself]. I also love collaborating and sharing other people\u2019s ideas because everybody has something different. You never know, because initially with \u2018Been Thinking\u2019 it was a bit further into pop than I was used to, but I warmed up to it and recorded everything and it was great. That\u2019s happened a lot where I\u2019ve been worried or questioning certain things, but once I\u2019ve done it I\u2019ve ended up liking it, so I\u2019m open to learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
What are you most looking forward to sharing with your fans next?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m done with my debut album, which is crazy. We\u2019re planning on releasing it this year and I\u2019m really excited about it. I feel like I really found my sound and that feels really good. I feel like there\u2019s a song on the album for everybody: sad songs, happy songs, fast songs. But it\u2019s also very cohesive and you can hear the African influence in every song, and that\u2019s something that\u2019s very important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Each week in Breakout, we talk to the emerging stars blowing up right now \u2013 whether it be a huge viral moment, killer new track or an eye-popping video \u2013 these are the rising artists certain to dominate the near future<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":27392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31],"tags":[7,14,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-27395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-music","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"yoast_head":"\n