When Billboard sent out its Hot 100 list on October 10, for many who receive the weekly release, it was nothing to write home about.
But for then-21-year-old Tyla, whose hit Water debuted on the chart that week after spending several trending on TikTok, that humble click of a button by a faceless music aficionado signified the monumental turn her career was about to make.
With her single coming in at #67 on the coveted ranking, Tyla had officially made history. But even though her alto tone was ringing across the globe, it would take another seven months for her name to become household-level – and not because of her voice.
Watch the video above.
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Now 22, Tyla was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. When Water debuted on Billboard's Hot 100, it became the first solo sung by a South African musician to appear on the chart since Hugh Masekela's 1968 Grazing in the Grass debut.
The mixed-genre hit – it notably fuses Amapiano, Afrobeats, pop and R&B together, and is a large reason Tyla is called the 'Queen of Popiano' – also made Tyla, at 21, South Africa's youngest musician to ever appear on the list.
Water's success came after five long years of hard work from the songstress, who spent every weekend during her final year of high school in 2019 in the recording studio.
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Inside the rise and rise of 'Queen of Popiano' Tyla
She'd been discovered earlier that year by Garth von Glehn, her first manager, who organised her recording sessions after seeing her singing on Instagram.
After she graduated, Tyla self-released her debut single Getting Late – but music wasn't her sole focus at the time.
As Getting Late's music video was amassing millions of views in 2021, Tyla was also studing a degree in mining engineering, much to her chagrin.
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Finally, after "a lot of convincing and a lot of crying", Tyla told the BBC her parents let her take a year off studying to properly break into the music industry.
She told the outlet in January: "And I'm still on my gap year now!"
In February, Water saw Tyla – who signed with Epic Records in 2021 – earn a Grammy in a new category at the prestigious awards ceremony, with the songstress taking home a golden gramophone in the Best African Music Performance category.
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Ten months after releasing Water and becoming a viral dancing sensation, Tyla once again swivelled heads – but this time even more than ever before, and not for her singing or dancing.
Making her Met Gala debut on the first Monday in May, Tyla – wearing a custom floor-length Balmain dress comprised of three different shades of real sand – didn't walk up the famous steps to the museum's entrance.
Rather, she had to be carried.
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Anna Wintour had made the 2024 Met Gala's official dress code 'The Garden of Time', and Tyla – with the help of Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing – put her own twist on the theme.
Explaining to La La Anthony during Vogue's official red carpet live stream, Tyla said she was inspired by "the sands of time" for the distinctive dress design, which she paired with a matching hourglass purse.
"I'm wearing sand, basically, the sands of time," she said on fashion's biggest night. "We really wanted something out of the box for this year."
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"It feels amazing, I'm so excited to go inside and see all the pictures when I go home," she continued. "I just love the outfit and how everything turned out."
After walking the red carpet and posing for photos, Tyla was filmed being carried up the Met steps by five men in suits, as she physically could not lift her legs high enough while wearing the skin-tight, full-length skirt.
Once the photos were taken, however, Rousteing took mercy on her and altered the gown by cutting it into a mini dress with scissors before Tyla made her way into the high-profile dinner, which costs $US75,000 (approx. $112,400) per plate.
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Capping off Tyla's monumental 12 months of world domination will be a visit to Australia, with the pop star set to travel to Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney as part of Listen Out in late September and early October.
"I'm just happy people are listening and watching what I put out," she told Numéro Netherlands in May.
"I remember when people didn't really care, so I feel so blessed."
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Title: Inside the remarkable rise of Tyla, the history-making 'Queen of Popiana' whose fashion is as famous as her voice
Sourced From: celebrity.nine.com.au/music/tyla-inside-the-rise-of-singer-songwriter-explainer/546d3b4a-6474-4ea5-8e83-88f67065a53b
Published Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2024 22:08:00 GMT
