Superstar Tyla from South Africa is constantly winning, taking home prizes from practically all major domestic and international award ceremonies.
Even though the superstar from Johannesburg won the Afrobeats category, she openly said that she represented the amapiano.
The vivacious singing sensation also had criticism to offer on the organizers’ careless categorization of African music.
“I come from South Africa. I represent amapiano. I represent my culture, and I just want to shout out [to] all the Afrobeats artists in this category with me.”
Tyla won the VMA for Best Afrobeats for her smash hit “Water”, she was nominated with Nigerian superstars Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, Tems and Lojay. During her acceptance speech for her award, Tyla reflected on her win, calling it “special, but also bittersweet”.
“This is such a big moment for Africa [and] African music,” began Tyla, as she became the first South African artist to win a VMA.
“This is just so special, but also bittersweet because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under Afrobeat[s]. It’s a thing, and even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse, it is more than just Afrobeats.
“I come from South Africa. I represent amapiano. I represent my culture, and I just want to shout out [to] all the Afrobeats artists in this category with me.”
