Who is Tyla? – Mzansi artist who broke Master KG’s record and is making global waves

After her single Water broke into Spotify’s top 40 global playlist, having been streamed over 40 million times, South African netizens asked themselves who Tyla is.

Her song Water entered the Apple Music US chart at number 82, making it the highest charting song by a South African artist since Master KG’s Jerusalema.

The track currently sits at number 65, above the likes of SZA and Lil Baby.

When news broke that her song has made history, the South African-born muso dedicated her achievement to Mzansi, which led a number of social media users to wonder about the Amapiano sensation.

Who is Tyla?

The 21-year-old, musician whose full name is Tyla Laura Seethal, released the single Getting Late with production from Kooldrink and the song achieved some success.

Following her big break, Tyla signed a recording contract with Epic Records through a joint venture with Fax Records in the United States.

Her name reverberates more outside South African borders than at home. She was one of the supporting acts at the recent New York show hosted by Uncle Waffles.

In August, she performed alongside Davido and Tiwa Savage in Kigali, Rwanda at the Africa Closing Concert presented by Spotify.

There, she showcased her Amapiano infused with Afrobeats, pop and R&B style-music.

According to Spotify the market streaming the South African artist the most is Nigeria, followed by her home country.

This is likely due to her collaboration with Nigeria’s Ayra Starr on Girl Next Door. Other countries that gravitate towards her sound include Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania.

She performed at the Milan Fashion Week, following the release of her single Been Thinking, which earned Tyla her first chart placement of her career, on the Billboard Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.

On TikTok’s official Viral 50 chart, the song sits at number nine, this was propelled by her challenge on the app.

Tyla posted videos of herself dancing to the song and performing it on stage – prompting fans to want to try it themselves.

The hashtags #TylaWater and #TylaWaterChallenge have over 448.6 million views combined, and the song has been used in over 500,000 videos on the app as people post themselves mimicking her moves.