South African musician Tyla, has taken the globe by storm with her new track which has catapulted her career to new heights, making her the top South African artist on Spotify.
At the time of writing, the singer and dancer had 5.2 million monthly Spotify listeners, with Water being streamed over 22 million times. Since Master KG’s Jerusalema, it is the highest charting song led by a South African musician. The official song has garnered over 7 million views on YouTube and more than 200 million views on TikTok.
debuted at number 20 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 (a chart that lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main Billboard Hot 100), according to the Johannesburg-born singer, who found success with her debut hit single Getting Late with Kooldrink in 2021. When we look at the overall African artists on the charts, Tyla is now the 5th African artist with the Most Spofity monthly listeners currently officially surpassing both Ckay And Ayra Starr.
Water nears 50 million listens on Spotify and continues to rank up more engagement on other platforms. Tyla has also become the first South African artist to surpass 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Tyla initially expressed disbelief toward the predictions that her song may debut on the chart; she wrote on X, “No Ways”. She also thanked her fans for their support: “Y’all helping me break records. Thanks so much for streaming Water, more coming very soon.”
The music video for Water also received over one million YouTube views on its release day. Tyla is the first SA woman musician to achieve this. The rising star signed with Epic Records in 2021 after the success of Getting Late, featuring Kooldrink.
The song’s music video got her a South African Music Awards nomination. Her song Been Thinking also enjoyed some success. She joined the controversial R&B artist Chris Brown for his 2023 European tour.The singer recently had her first official TV interview and performance, which aired Sunday on Swedish television.
Tyla has an album on the way; she told Essence magazine: “I’ve been working on it for the past two years, and I’m excited to finally bring it to life.”
She also talked about her early life growing up in SA: “Growing up, I would perform songs for my whole family. I have so many old videos of me belly dancing… Everyone in South Africa, and Africa in general, grows up dancing. It’s just part of our culture.”
(story credit: gagasiworld.co.za)
