Tyla made history as the first artist to occupy the #1 spot on Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for over 100 weeks, extending her record for the most #1 hits on the same chart. Debuting in 2024, she won a Grammy that same year, and her rise to becoming a pop sensation at just 22 years old appeared effortless.
Even so, the South African songstress is under constant investigation about her heritage and whether that constitutes her as a Black woman in the space of music-making. “I don’t really have a blueprint,” Tyla opened up when it comes to forging the future path for her career.
Which is why her latest album, A*POP — out July 24 — isn’t following any rules.
“Coming from where I come from, I am literally cutting down these bushes as I go. I’m creating it as I go. A*POP is so important to me because there are just so many layers to pop. It’s so broad.”
She makes the point that with this album, she wanted to lean more into herself just as a person rather than the world identifying her as purely an African artist. “I just want to be me,” she said to EBONY inside a Sony Music recording studio in Los Angeles, where we engage in a lively discussion surrounding African pop music and the trajectory of her career over the past few years.
In 2024, Tyla had to cancel her scheduled North American and European tour due to an injury, which left speculation about whether that would impact her ascending success. After her mega-successful dance track “Water” had a seismic effect on her career and life, Tyla launched her A*POP era with “Chanel,” a fashion-forward hit that debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 list and at number 1 on their Afrobeats Song chart.
Tyla has continued to alter the pop musical landscape by integrating her distinctive voice and culture into the lexicon of pop artistry, most recently with a live performance in Portugal for Afronation. “I haven’t performed in so long, and they were so loud and singing back every song,” Tyla recalled.
A*POP is a collage of electronic pop, amapiano, sensual rhythms, and energetic drumming beats that captivates. Tyla masters the craft of making magnetic dance tracks that are collisions of the worlds she occupies. “I want all my music to feel carefree,” the now 24-year-old singer explained, even if those worlds sometimes feel worlds away. She holds her home of South Africa close to her heart. “I am African. So no matter what I make, it’s African.”
While she has most certainly maintained that unadulterated sense of fun and passion for dance throughout her catalog, she still approaches her craft with humility. She sees herself as someone who is actively learning both musically and personally, and that growth shows up in the lively, expressive art she makes.
“Even though the first album did what it did, I’m still very new,” Tyla stated. A*POP is her largest body of work to date, with the final product being her most experimental as it joins different universes of pop into a single emotional, epic.
She doesn’t aim to explore any personal storytelling within her music; she wants the arranged sonics to speak for themselves. “I create music and sing until something feels familiar,” she said. “This album isn’t deep; I wanted to create something that feels meaningful and good in the body, but I don’t want people to have to think.”
Her latest work features sultry summer dance production, thumping tropical beats, sheeny music production, retro synths, South African samples and more to fully capture the A*POP musical terrain.
Songs like “Mr. Nonchalant,” “Right Now,” and “Hot Tubs” share a new sound for Tyla, showcasing her vocal flair. Her voice flies high in “Crazy Of Me” and then returns to her musical roots with the popiano compositions of “Feel Something” and “I Don’t Care.” She samples a South African hit in “Fairytale” and creates a sunset dance anthem with “Kiss” and “Double Blind.”
“I have to stop myself sometimes,” she laughed when discussing how much she listens to this album in her downtime.
“I don’t want to drop the album and be tired of listening to it,” stste Tyla, who listens to The Internet, Kaytranada, and Frank Ocean during her off days to recalibrate. When I drop it, I want to enjoy it with everyone as well. Whenever I come back from a night out, I’m still spinning. I love to just put on the album and dance until I knock out.”
And while this offering samples all types of music, Tyla acknowledges it is still rooted in her homeland.
“There has to be something that I feel from the beats because our music is very percussive and it’s just a vibe,” she declared. “I feel like that is the way I move through how I make music.”