Tyla makes a historic debut on the Billboard 100 Chart
The young up and coming artist who is just 22 years old is already taking the world by storm, and she’s doing it all with grace and talent.
If you’ve heard the song “Make me sweat, make me hotter”, then you must know that it is one of the most talked about songs in the world right now. For the chart dated the week of October 14, 2023, Tyla’s hit track “Water” debuted at number 67 . The track had been garnering viral attention on Tiktok, Instagram, and other social media platforms.
The song also blows in at number 13 on the Billboard TikTok 50 chart
It was just a matter of time before it crossed the shores of South Africa where Tyla is a citizen, to the foreign shores, and especially to America, where it became a well accepted and praised track because of its domineering R&B influence and extremely catchy chorus.
But why is Tyla’s Billboard Hot 100 debut a historic one?
Why Tyla’s Billboard Hot 100 debut is historic
1) She is the first South African Soloist in 55 years to enter the chart
As it turns out, Tyla is the first South African soloist in 55 years to chart a song on the Billboard Hot 100. Tyla is the youngest-ever South African and the first South African soloist in 55 years to enter the US Billboard Hot 100, following Hugh Masekela’s “Grazing in the Grass” in 1968 Not only that, her song is currently on a peak of number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, having spent 3 weeks on the chart.
2) She is the Youngest South African Artist to chart on Billboard Hot 100
Not only is Tyla the youngest South African Artist to chart a Billboard Hot 100 song with “Water“, she is among the set of young African artists to ever achieve such, along with the likes of Rema. Her song has peaked Number 21 on the chart.
3) She broke a Spotify record
As at the month of October 2023, Tyla became the First female African Artist ever to have over 23 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and also became a few of African artists with such high number of monthly listeners
With her record-setting and record-breaking debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Tyla has become one of the faces of Afrobeats in the world.
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About
Tyla was born in Johannesburg, South Africa to ethnically Coloured parents of Indian, Zulu, Mauritian and Irish descent.
She matriculated from Edenglen High School in 2019 and was the head of culture in that year.
She started out posting original songs and covers to her Instagram account, as well as sending them out to a number of figures in the music industry, subsequently being discovered by her first manager who then organized her first recording sessions.
In late 2019, Tyla released her debut single, “Getting Late” featuring production from Kooldrink, which achieved national success.
The accompanying music video was nominated for Music Video of the Year at the 28th South African Music Awards in 2022.
She then signed a recording contract with Epic Records through a joint venture with Fax Records in the United States.
She followed up this effort with the singles “To Last” and “Overdue”.
Her debut performance came in 2023 at Milan Fashion Week, following the release of her single “Been Thinking”, which earned Tyla her first chart placement of her career, on the Billboard Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.
Heven Haile of Pitchfork described it as a “slick club anthem that channels the seductive pop-R&B hits of mid-2000s Ciara and Rihanna”.
Tyla then joined Chris Brown as the opening act for the European leg of his Under the Influence Tour.
In May 2023, she released the single “Girl Next Door”, featuring Nigerian singer Ayra Starr.
She also later released the song “Water” in July 2023 as the lead single from her upcoming debut extended play.
After spawning a viral dance challenge on the social media platform TikTok the song entered the top 10 in New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, where it topped the UK Afrobeats Singles Chart.
Entering at number 67, “Water” made Tyla the youngest-ever South African and the first South African soloist in 55 years to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, following Hugh Masekela’s “Grazing in the Grass” in 1968.
Its accompanying music video, released on 7 October 2023, accumulated 3 million views on YouTube in three days
