A young South African musician named Tyla surprised everyone by defeating all the Nigerian finalists to win the new Afrobeats category, “Best African Music Performance,” at the 66th Grammy Awards, which took place in the United States of America a few hours ago.
With her song “Water,” Tyla Laura Seethal took up the highly anticipated category.
In the first year of the category’s existence, the following artists have won: Davido featuring Musa Keys for his hit song “Unavailable,” Ayra Starr for her song “Rush,” Burna Boy for his song “City Boys,” and Nigerian sensational artist Asake and his boss and record label owner, Olamide, for Amapiano.
Ultimately, Tyla—a South African and Indian—won the maiden prize category.
The 22-year-old, speechless and overcome with appreciation, took the stage to win the first category including well-known performers from Nigeria and other countries. She could not believe what she was seeing.
On March 22, 2024, Tyla’s self-titled first album will be released, featuring the song “Water.”
Tyla, who was reared in Johannesburg, secured a record deal with Epic Records in 2021 following the release of her debut single, “Getting Late,” featuring Kooldrink, in 2019.
Three brand-new categories, including “Best Alternative Jazz Album” and “Best Pop Dance Recording,” will make their Grammy Awards debut in 2024. One of them is “Best African Music Performance.”
Davido received three nominations while Burna Boy received four, but all of them were defeated by non-Nigerians. Grammy won’t be returning home.
Davido was not successful in winning any of the three awards he was nominated for on Sunday night: Best Global Music Performance, Best Global Music Album, and Best African Music Performance.
It would take an additional year for the Nigerian team to try and win these new categories. The Grammy for “Best World Album” has already been won by the African music icon Burna Boy. Furthermore, Tems, Davido, and Wizkid have already triumphed together.