South African superstar Tyla continues her winning streak, collecting awards at almost every top awards ceremony internationally and locally. The Joburg-born superstar stated boldly that she represented the amapiano despite winning in the Afrobeats category.

Tyla won the VMA for Best Afrobeats for her smash hit “Water”, she was nominated with Nigerian superstars Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, Tems and Lojay. The 22-year-old walked away with the Best Afrobeats Award at the prestigious ceremony held at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. She continues to fly the South African flag high and became the first South African artist and first African female artist to win a VMA award.

During her acceptance speech for her award, Tyla reflected on her win, calling it “special, but also bittersweet”.

“This is just a big moment for Africa [and] African music,” began Tyla, as she became the first South African artist to win a VMA. She also went on to say that while the award is very special to her, it is also bittersweet because she believes there’s a tendency to group all African artists under the Afrobeat category. “It’s a thing, and even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse. It’s more than just Afrobeats.”

The charismatic singing sensation also had words for the organisers and their classification of African music.

“I come from South Africa. I represent amapiano. I represent my culture, and I just want to shout out [to] all the Afrobeats artists in this category with me.”

Tyla’s stellar trophy cabinet is steadily growing; she already has a Grammy, Billboard, BET, Metro FM Music, Basadi in Music and now she has a MTV Video Music Award to add to the lot. In February this year, Tyla took home the golden gramophone for Best African Music Performance — which was an all-new category — at the 2024 GRAMMYs, also for “Water.”

Afrobeat music evolved in Nigeria in the late 1960s by Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and has grown into a global phenomenon, while amapiano is a sound originating from the townships of South Africa and has also become a global sensation.

The “Water” hitmaker was up against the likes of Ayra Starr featuring Giveon; Burna Boy; Chris Brown featuring Davido and Lojay; Tems; and Usher with Pheelz. Accepting the award, Tyla she paid tribute to them and spoke about the diversity of African music. “This is just a big moment for Africa, African music. The global impact that ‘Water’ has had on the world proves that African music can be pop music too,” the 22-year-old said.

The music video for the hit song has more than 230 million views on YouTube and almost 800 million streams on Spotify. Tyla, dressed in a yellow string mini-skirt and matching cropped top, thanked her ‘Tigers’ – as her fans are called – for voting for her.

The win comes days after the pop star received the Global Force Award at the US music and entertainment magazine, Billboard, in New York. She attended the Billboard R&B No. 1 event at The Box, also in New York, where she received the Global Impact Award. Earlier this year, Tyla’s eponymous album, released surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.

The Johannesburg-born megastar was also nominated for Best R&B for “Water” and Best New Artist awards, which went to SZA for “Snooze” and Chappell Roan, respectively. The 22-year-old singer, who has had a very successful year winning accolades at the Grammys, BET, Billboard, the VMAs, as well as a cover on Elle magazine’s October issue.

Tyla and Halle Bailey Address Viral Onstage Moment

The time spent dissecting the minor blip in communication could be better spent highlighting the important distinction Tyla made about genre during her acceptance speech. “The global impact that ‘Water’ has had on the world just proves that African music can be pop music too,” she said. “This is just so special, but also bittersweet because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under Afrobeats.”

She added: “It’s a thing, and even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse. It’s more than just Afrobeats. I come from South Africa. I represent Amapiano, I represent my culture.”

However, Tyla has faced criticism for handing her trophy over to Halle Bailey on the stage, describing the VMAs Moon Person statuette as very heavy. Tyla took to X to dispel these talks. “Y’all make everything weird… I was not asking my girl Halle… We just girls 💅🏽 , STFU I WON A VMAAAA”

Meanwhile, Tyla has faced criticism for handing her trophy over to Halle Bailey on the stage, describing the VMAs Moon Person statuette as very heavy. Tyla took to X to dispel these talks. “Y’all make everything weird… I was not asking my girl Halle… We just girls 💅🏽 , STFU I WON A VMAAAA”

After the South African pop star was presented the award for Best Afrobeats Video for “Water” by Halle Bailey and Lil Nas X, she asked the rapper to hold the heavy trophy while she delivered her speech. A brief moment of confusion about who she was asking for help from sent some viewers searching for crumbs of drama — but Tyla dismissed their speculation quickly.

“Y’all make everything weird… I was not asking my girl Halle… We just girls,” Tyla wrote on X (formerly Twitter) a few minutes after the show wrapped. “STFU I WON A VMAAAA.” When the singer first stepped behind the microphone for her speech, she said, “I’m not strong enough, please hold it for me,” before Lil Nas X took it off of her hands. “Thank you, I’m sorry,” she added. In a response to her post, Bailey wrote: “Exactly ♥️♥️ love u babes congrats.”

Tyla’s World

The meteoric rise to fame does not seem to have gone to her head though, as Tyla always acknowledges and thanks her family and fans, whom she calls her ”Tygers”, for their support. And of course, her authentic South African accent and mannerisms continue to charm her fans locally and abroad.

Below is a snippet video of Tyla and her sister, Sydney’s escapade at Usher’s high-energy concert in Brooklyn. The R&B icon is currently on tour for his Past Present Future tour.