Tyla’s Grammy Win: PMNEWS vindicated, how it got it right

By Nehru Odeh

PMNEWS has indeed been vindicated. Weeks leading to the 66th Grammy Awards which was held in Los Angeles on Friday 4 February 2024, it did a thorough analysis of the nominees in the star-studded Best African Music Performance category, which had superstars such as Tyla, Burna Boy, Davido, Asake/Olamide and Ayra Starr slugging it out to win the newly- created highly coveted prize.

Not only did the media outfit weigh the nominees, considering their strengths and weaknesses, but it also did a thorough check on the nominated songs – Burna Boy’s City Boys, Asake’s/Olamide’s Amapiano, Davido’s Ununavailable, Tyla’s Water and Ayra Starr’s Rush. It then came out with the conclusion that Tyla’s runaway global hit “Water” would win that award.

PMNEWS was unwavering in arriving at that decision and on 3 February, a day before the awards ceremony, it published the story entitled “Why Water singer Tyla may win a Grammy, the secret to her success” online. The thrust of the story is that Tyla will be the clear winner in that category.

It arrived at that rock-hard conclusion devoid of parochial sentiments, considering the fact that four of the nominees who are global stars and equally successful artistes in their own rights were Nigerians. The only non-Nigerian on that list was the South African-born, Johannesburg-bred 22-year-old Tyla, whose global hit Water continues to turn heads and seduce fans beyond boundaries.

PMNEWS picked Tyla’s “Water”, the only South African solo song to enter Billboard Hot 100 chart 55 years after legendary jazz musician Hugh Masekela achieved that feat in 1968 with Grazing in the Grass.

The reasons the media gave for picking Tyla out of that star-studded list are legion. But for now highlighting some of the reasons it gave without mincing words will do.

It emphasised the fact that Tyla’s “Water” was a song that took not just the world by storm but also everybody unawares, became a global anthem and took over the streets what with the lyrics on almost everybody’s lips, the Bacardi-inspired dance moves as well as the social media frenzy and the viral dance challenge it spawned on TikTok and other platforms.

It says unequivocally: “Being in the same category with such superstars is bound to make anyone have jitters and send cold shivers down one’s spine. But the fact remains that Tyla cannot be ignored. Her single, “Water” is not just a global hit, but also a song that can hold its own anywhere, anytime.

“Aside from the fact that it has taken over the streets globally, three days after the visual debuted on YouTube on 7 October 2023 it surpassed more than three million views. Less than a year after the video was released it has garnered more than 130 million views.

“And after spawning a frenzy on social media and a viral dance challenge on TikTok, it also entered the top ten in sixteen countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Former US President Barrack Obama also named Tyla’s Water as one of his favourite songs of 2023.

“Yet the singer, songwriter and dancer is much in demand everywhere, the song is on everyone’s lips and she is the beautiful bride every artiste wants to identify with.

“After inking a deal with Epic record label, she joined Chris Brown as the opening act for his Under the Influence Tour. She performed the song live on The Bianca Show in Sweden and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the United States.”

It then went on to delineate the artiste’s growth and development as an artiste right from the early age of 10 as well as the enthusiasm, passion, unassailable determination and grit she betrayed on, the sacrifices she had to make, even dropping out from the university on her intriguing journey to stardom. Little wonder she achieved such a groundbreaking hit at such a young age.

Having worked so hard in the years leading to 2024, she knew herself that that was her year. She once said last year she was taking 2024. And that she is what she has started doing by clinching a Grammy.

“This year literally changed my whole life,” she told him. “So 2023; I’m going to remember this year forever – and I feel like it was a warm-up for next year because I’m taking it in 2024.”

Success does not come out of the blues. It is worked out. And that is what Tyla has shown. These are some of the intriguing things Tyla, who is of mixed race – since she is of Zulu, Indian, Mauritian and Irish descent- did while growing up.

“She proved her insatiable hunger to sing and perform right from a young age. At 10 she belted songs for her primary school. There was a day she sang “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window’ for her primary school and her grandmum was screaming in the crowd. And at 12 she wrote her first lyrics in a diary her mother had given her.

“I was born a singer. I’ve always gravitated towards it. I would tell everybody that I was going to be a pop star. Ever since I was] really small, I listened to all genres of music, danced and made up shows for my family or wrote songs for my mom and dad’s birthdays.

“I wrote my first lyrics in a diary my mom gave me when I was 12 years old and would sing them over YouTube beats. Then I started recording and posting videos of original songs and covers, like Beyoncé and Boyz II Men, on TikTok and Instagram.”

“‘As though that was not enough, she betrayed so much passion, determination and enthusiasm even at that early age. She started reaching out to people across the country, sending them her original music as well as covers.

“I started DMing tons of people across the industry my original music and covers. I’ve always been very ambitious. If I want something, I make sure I get it. I just thought they would reply, and I’d be flown out and blow up like Justin Bieber.

“Most went unread, but I was persistent. I already had a strong social media presence, so I asked my followers to give me a topic or genre to write about. I’d do it and post the video, and soon one of those caught my manager’s attention and I was discovered.”

Tyla indeed knew she was not just cut out for success, she was on her way to the limelight. And that was what PMNEWS showed on that write-up.

“When I was younger, I always wanted to see a pop star from South Africa amongst the Rihannas, Britney Spears, Michael Jacksons,” she says. “I always wanted to see someone from where I was from there. I want to be the biggest pop star for the people back home.

“I always felt that this was going to happen for me, but there was always some level of doubt because I never had that person that opened that door,” she adds. “Basically, I’m trying to be that girl that opens that door.”

“I really would love people to be able to say the biggest artist right now is from Africa. You know like born and raised, what the heck? We haven’t had that,” Tyla told i-D.

“‘And now that she is on the verge of winning a Grammy, she’s well on her way to not just becoming the greatest pop star of her generation but also that girl that opens the door.

“‘That girl that opens the door? Sure. That has always been her dream. That is what she has always visualised, to be on the global stage and counted among music greats. That is what she has always wished and worked hard for.

“I’m a big dreamer, so, I always think big …I’ve always been very ambitious. If I want something, I make sure I get it,” Tyla once said, and she is about getting a Grammy.

Read the full story that predicted Tyla’s Grammy win Here