African Music Beyond Afrobeats: Tyla’s Historic VMA Win

At the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, South African singer Tyla made a powerful statement about the diversity of African music. Accepting her award for Best Afrobeats, Tyla emphasized that African music is more than just Afrobeats, representing a rich cultural heritage and diverse styles.

In her acceptance speech, Tyla expressed her gratitude for the recognition, saying, "This is such a big moment for Africa, for African music. The global impact that ‘Water’ has had on the world just proves that African music can be pop music, too." She also acknowledged the tendency to group all African artists under the Afrobeats umbrella, stating, "It’s a thing, and even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse."

Tyla, a Grammy winner, represents amapiano, a genre originating from South Africa. She has described her hit record, "Water," as the "sound of Africa," emphasizing its global appeal. Her message resonated with fans worldwide, as she brought attention to the often-overlooked cultural richness of African music.

The VMA win was briefly overshadowed by a video clip of Tyla handing her Moonman to presenters Halle Bailey and Lil Nas X, with some viewers interpreting her request for help as "shady." However, both Bailey and Tyla took to social media to dismiss the backlash, with Tyla tweeting, "Y’all make everything weird… I was not asking my girl Halle… We just girls. STFU I WON A VMAAAA," and Bailey responding with, "Exactly. love u babes congrats."

Tyla’s historic win serves as a testament to the growing recognition of African music’s global impact and diversity. Her message of unity and celebration of African culture is one that will continue to resonate with fans worldwide.