“I’ve Loved Fashion and Music Since I Was Young” – Tyla On the Cover of V Magazine

Tyla’s past year has been nothing short of phenomenal. Her breakout hit, “Water,” released in July 2023, ignited a global sensation with its iconic TikTok dance challenge. The track amassed a staggering 29 million monthly Spotify streams and earned her her first Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance. Despite the song’s unprecedented success, Tyla admits to being caught off guard.

“It came as a surprise to all of us, myself and my whole team. It was really a cool moment,” she says.

In the latest issue of V Magazine, the South African singer talks about her self-titled debut album, “Tyla,” sharing insights into her adolescent inspirations and her ambitious plans for the future.

Read excerpts from the interview:

On how the journey as a young songwriter has shaped her career

“All those years of writing, making music by myself, performing in talent shows or for family, acting in plays—I feel like all of those moments developed me in a way and help me now as a performer and as an artist. Just having had some sort of experience, even though it wasn’t professional, it definitely helped me.”

On being multifaceted and how her performing arts experience has influenced her artistry

“Yeah, definitely. I loved doing it in school. Every single play, I would be there auditioning and singing and acting. I just loved playing a character on stage and entertaining people, really. So I really incorporate those [passions] into my performance today. I love combining everything that I enjoy into one show, balancing acting [and] singing. I really have fun with it.”

On how her sound and personal style have evolved

“It evolved a lot. I’ve loved fashion and music since I was very young, but I never really had the resources when I was growing up to access the things that I personally liked. Now, I’m able to play around more and get the pieces and wear the things that I’ve always wanted to wear, so I’m enjoying that as well. And musically, my direction has always been to take African sounds to the world and mix pop, R&B, afrobeats, and amapiano together and make it huge. All those years of trying, making terrible songs, making okay songs, brought me to this point where I feel like I’ve made a sound that I’m happy bringing to the world.”