Tyla Seethal, the 22-year-old South African singer, has won a Grammy for Best African Music Performance for her hit song ‘Water’, which has become a global hit – bringing home another major win for SA.
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The young artist, who hails from Johannesburg, has been making waves since her song Waves became a TikTok sensation. Since then, Tyla has skyrocketed to superstardom. ‘Water’ charted on the Billboard Top 100 in October last year, and in December, Janet Jackson ‘knighted’ Tyla during a live performance.
The major wins have kept coming through, with the young artist winning at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. She won in the Best African Music Performance category on Sunday night – a new category introduced this year that aims to ‘recognise recordings that utilise local expressions from across the African content’.

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She beat several other African artists, including Asake, Davido and fellow South African, Musa Keys.
Tyla was elated during her acceptance speech, saying, ‘Oh my gosh, guys. This is crazy. Like I never thought I’d say “I won a Grammy at 22 years old, guys”‘.

She went on to say:
If you don’t know me, my name is Tyla. I’m from South Africa and last year God decided to change my whole life, so thank you so much to God. Thank you to my team, my family; I know my mother’s crying somewhere in here.
And, of course, she thanked Recording Academy for the new category, stating ‘It’s so important’.
Tyla’s award is another win in a long line of successes for South Africa on the international stage – from sport, to now, music.
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Picture: Emma McIntyre / Getty Images