Tyla (amapiano crossover)

south african amapiano singer who has very clearly had her eyes on global stardom from the start and four years later she's finally had a proper breakthrough hit with "water" (one of the very best hits of the year)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoiOOiuH8iI

debut album is out 1 march and she's just put out a teaser EP with "water" and another 3 tracks, "on and on" is especially good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBbfGilv7kI

sadly it doesn't seem like "girl next door" from earlier this year, which might be even better than "water", will be on the album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7C6FhmE37M

i do miss her slightly harder-hitting early sound from 2019/2020 a bit though too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Tct3AAre0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCJtzWkwXeQ

is 2024 finally going to be the year of amapiano in the west?

"on and on" is really good, not really amapiano and more like sza with a log drum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fVrF6THCsk

yeah "on and on" is by far her most western r&b track but it's great

for the longest time it seemed like her label just didn't really know what to do with her because she'd just release a single or two a year that didn't seem to get much attention, and i was a bit worried when she released "getting better" earlier this year because it was quite a departure and not as interesting as usual. thankfully "girl next door" and "water" were then great, drawing more upon the nigerian strain of amapiano, and "water" became a hit for real at last.

She’s great. I heard “Getting Late” somehow, probably on an ilx thread, and loved it. “Water” is a jam, great crossover single.

my favorite of these teaser tracks is "truth or dare" but they're all pretty good

i do hope there's some longer/'harder hitting' amapiano tracks on the full album, even if it's just one or two

Album is out, absolutely loving it.

i am VERY pleased with how it turned out! was getting slightly worried as the rollout seemed a little messy -- like who the hell wanted a video to the travis scott remix of "water" that no one particularly cared for?

it's too bad that her vision of 'popiano' seems not to have room for tracks over 3 and a half minutes... closing track "to last" could have been a masterpiece w/ ~double the length

but it's lush and kinetic and she inhabits the space beautifully, well done tyla

Funny reading the comments on the popheads subreddit and seeing people the most excited over this new song “to last”.

the cover is um, very 80s though

wikipedia album page

the tour is such a mess

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyla_Tour

:(

this is a great album. dyl otm that these songs should go for a little longer, especially, natch, “on and on”

I still don't really know what to do with Tyla to be honest. She has her moments but they're isolated. Between the simplistic songwriting, the lack of natural in her singing, and this strange stylistic in-between of ama-pop-r&b, my sorry conclusion is that her music does not really impact me, that I don't really need it. At least not beyond the singles.

very good album though i completely agree that it's a shame the tracks are so short. it's also a shame "girl next door" didn't make the album because that's one of her best tracks

"jump" and "on my body" are probably the weakest, with the features feeling forced, and the travis scott remix thrown on the end is completely superfluous

skillibeng sounds good on that beat but yes, agreed.

as with most tacked-on remixes, i will just pretend the travis remix does not exist

I’m with Nabozo. I really want her to be the next big thing, but judging on how safe she’s playing it I think she’s actually going to follow a path similar to Selena Gomez: charismatic, not too much range, good enough pop singles. Nothing mindblowing.

'water' is a _great_ single. album is okay, track w/tems is my pick. maybe 3 mics overall?

her recent tour cancellation is a little eyebrow-raising.

She was going to be at this weekend's Couleur Café (world music) festival in Brussels but... she cancelled. Now playing: Tems from Nigeria (who has enough talent for two, says my newspaper, forget Tyla)

saw her live couple nights ago. such a presence. still amazed

At this moment and judging by their catalogues I’d say Tems is definitely an upgrade.

I’ve heard great things about Tyla as a performer, but Didn’t she cancel her world tour due to an injury in March? Her still cancelling shows is a bad omen. I wonder if there’s something more serious going on.

I love Tyla's album. Tems' too.

xp tyla got seriously ill, with some mad disease some months ago, so i've been told

get optimistic because, again let me tell you, the joy she and her dancers find in performing it is contagious, ime. she danced and sang* with ease

*not sure if i agree with "her lack of natural singing" suggested a few posts above. she sings

there are songs on the album i really like ... "on & on" in particular is amazing, it sounds like an A+ kelela record to me

there's too much stuff that i don't think works tho... they repeat the vocal stacking trick from "water" a bit too often i.e. on "truth or dare" which i like better than "water" but it's hard not to hear one in the shadow of the other ... "breathe me" same kinda thing. it's a really alluring sound, i do get the appeal ... the songs bleed together a bit for me tho

or like "ART" i would really enjoy except the lyrics are very weird to the point of being distracting

a 'tyla +' deluxe thing is out w/ 3 new tracks. i'm not really sure why bc 2 of them are kinda forgettable but the first one ("shake ah") is notable for being a nearly 6-minute straight up amapiano track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9r_fgnhNU

it's not perfect but i'm thankful