Everyone seems to be jumping on the Tyla bandwagon as ‘Water’ continue to spread across the world.
By: Shingai Darangwa
JUST as ‘M’nike’ secured its spot as the biggest amapiano song ever, Tyla has arrived out of nowhere to dethrone Tyler ICU with her massive single ‘Water’.
In the two months since its release, the amapiano-influenced single has amassed over 37 million streams on Spotify alone, which is by far more than any song out of SA this year.
The single’s success has been propelled by a viral dance challenge that’s penetrated various western global markets over the past month.
This attention has seen the 21-year-old make fans out of various global music stars.
“Water is making history,” she recently shared on Instagram. “Thank you to everyone making videos to this sound, the love is so overwhelming. Tygers, keep going wild!! 🐅”
Her last few posts have drawn comments from the likes of legendary supermodel Naomi Campbell and Grammy winners Khalid and Ty Dolla Sign.
Earlier in the week American comedian Shiggy, best known for creating Drake’s viral ‘In My Feelings’ challenge, also hopped onto the wave when he shared his own video dancing to ‘Water’ on Instagram.
Last year, Tyla spoke with IOL about pioneering a new ‘popiano’ sound, a term she coined to define her blend of amapiano and pop music.
“I’ve just been basically trying to find my sound because I feel like since I do popiano, I like to fuse different western genres with some African influences.
“I’ve been trying to explore that, and I feel like I’ve gotten to a place where I’m happy, and I feel like I’ve found it.”
She also spoke her current success into existence when she shared how she is optimistic about the future and looking forward to spreading African music to the rest of the world.
“My goal is definitely to become a global star. I’ve always looked up to people like Michael Jackson, Rihanna and Aaliyah. I’d just love to know that people are listening to an artist from South Africa.
“I feel like we need more Africans and more South Africans in the forefront of music. The interest is there, but we need more of us leading that.”
