Tyla makes history, again, after winning VMA award

South African pop star, turned global sensation, Tyla, has made history by becoming the First Female African Artist and the First South African Artist to win a MTV Video Music Award.

The Amapiano artist, who already has a Grammy, bagged the Best Afrobeats award at the 2024 VMA’s in New York on Wednesday night, for her hit “Water”, in a star studded ceremony.

In February this year, Tyla took home the golden gramophone for Best African Music Performance — which was an all-new category — at the 2024 GRAMMYs, also for “Water.”

READ MORE: Tyla wins a Grammy!

Wearing a strappy yellow number, Tyla expressed her gratitude at winning the VMA award, saying it’s a huge moment for Africa and African music.

She also went on to say that while the award is very special to her, it is also bittersweet because she believes there’s a tendency to group all African artists under the Afrobeat category.

“It’s a thing, and even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse. It’s more than just Afrobeats.”

The 22-year-old musician has stuck to her roots, proudly proclaiming that she represents, South Africa, amapiano and her culture. Tyla also acknowledged some of the other nominees in the Afrobeats category that missed out on  the award, including Burna Boy, Chris Brown and Usher.

Tyla has got the world at her feet, after also received top honours from US music and entertainment magazine, Billboard on Sunday.

She attended the Billboard R&B No. 1 event at The Box, also in New York, where she received the Global Impact Award.

Earlier this year, Tyla’s eponymous album, released surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.

Her meteoric rise to fame does not seem to have gone to her head though, as Tyla always acknowledges and thanks her family and fans, whom she calls her ”Tygers”, for their support.

And of course, her authentic South African accent and mannerisms continue to charm her fans locally and abroad.