Tyla

Tyla Laura Seethal, born on January 30, 2002, is a South African singer and songwriter. She is known mononymously as Tyla. Tyla was born and raised in Johannesburg. After the success of her debut single “Getting Late” featuring Kooldrink in 2019, she signed with Epic Records in 2021.

Tyla rose to international fame with her single “Water” released in 2023. The song entered the top ten in sixteen countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. “Water” is the first song by a South African soloist to enter the US Billboard Hot 100 in 55 years.

It was awarded the inaugural Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance in 2024. Tyla’s self-titled debut album is scheduled for release on March 22, 2024. Tyla has also earned nominations for a BRIT Award, a Soul Train Music Award, a MOBO Award, and two South African Music Awards.

Tyla Laura Seethal was born on January 30, 2002, in Johannesburg. Her family has Coloured, Indian, and Mauritian ancestry. She matriculated from Edenglen High School in 2019 and was the school’s head of culture in that year. While at school, she started posting original songs and covers on her Instagram account. She also sent them out to different figures in the music industry.

Tyla was subsequently discovered by her first manager, Garth von Glehn, who organized her first recording sessions. Tyla claims that she would go into the recording studio every weekend during her final year of high school.

In late 2019, after finishing high school, Tyla released her debut single “Getting Late” featuring production from Kooldrink, which achieved national success. The accompanying music video was released in January 2021, and it amassed several million views on YouTube. She had been studying towards a degree in mining engineering.

After much persuasion and “a lot of crying,” her parents had agreed to let Tyla take a year off university to attempt to lift her music career off the ground. She then signed a recording contract with Epic Records through a joint venture with Fax Records in the United States in May 2021. She followed up her debut single with the singles “Overdue” in October 2021 and “To Last” in November 2022.

Tyla’s first public performance occurred in 2023 during the Dolce & Gabbana afterparty at Milan Fashion Week, following the release of her single “Been Thinking.” She earned her first chart placements of her career on the Billboard Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and Rhythmic Airplay charts. Tyla then joined Chris Brown as the opening act for his Under the Influence Tour. In May 2023, she released the single “Girl Next Door,” featuring Nigerian singer Ayra Starr.

She also later released the song “Water” in July 2023 as the lead single from her upcoming self-titled debut studio album. After spawning a viral dance challenge on the social media platform TikTok, the song became a top 10 hit in several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. It also made Tyla the youngest-ever South African and the first South African soloist in 55 years to enter the US Billboard Hot 100, following Hugh Masekela’s “Grazing in the Grass” in 1968.

She performed the song live on The Bianca Show in Sweden and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the United States. Its accompanying music video, released on October 6, 2023, accumulated 3 million views on YouTube in three days. Tyla was then featured on a remix version of the song “Girls Need Love” by Summer Walker, released as part of the latter’s Girls Mix extended play in October 2023.

On the eve of December 2023, she announced the March release of her debut studio album, Tyla (2024). She simultaneously released three new tracks called “Truth or Dare,” “On and On,” and “Butterflies,” as promotional singles from the project on an extended play of the same name. Tyla performed a medley of “Water” and “Truth or Dare” on the season 24 finale of The Voice on December 19, 2023. At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2024, Tyla became the first person to win the inaugural Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance with “Water.” She also became the youngest-ever African artist to win a Grammy Award.