South African singer and songwriter Tyla Laura Seethal has sparked reactions among Nigerians during her speech at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards (MTV VMAs).
The 2024 MTV VMAs took place on Wednesday, September 11, at New York’s UBS Arena. American Artistes Taylor Swift and Post Malone led with the most nominations and were the biggest winners of the night.
Meanwhile, Tyla won the MTV VMA’s category for Best Afrobeats with her smash record, Water ahead of Ayra Starr ft. Giveon (Last Heartbreak Song), Burna Boy (City Boys), Chris Brown ft. Davido & Lojay (Sensational), Tems (Love Me JeJe), USHER & Pheelz (Ruin).
This made Tyla the first female African singer and first South African to win the prestigious award show.
However, a video capturing moment the 22-year-old musician gave her speech after being awarded on the stage went viral, generating many discussions online.
Despite being awarded as the best Afrobeats singer, Tyla revealed that she is not Afrobeats star but Amapiano, slamming Nigerian singers like Davido, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Lojay, Ayra Starr, Tems and other singer in the category.
She said that the impact her popular song has had globally is a testament that “African music can be pop music too!”
In her words, “This is just so special, but also bittersweet because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under Afrobeat. “It’s a thing, and even though Afrobeats have opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse. It’s more than just Afrobeats.”
“I come from South Africa and I represent Amapiano. I represent my culture and I just want to give shout out to Afrobeats stars in the same category with me, Shout out Tems, Ayra Starr, Burna Boy, Wizkid, Lojay and all of us”.
Watch the video below: