New kid on the block Tyla has been making waves with her newly released track “Getting Late”, featuring Kooldrink.
The 19-year-old singer and dancer, who confidently remixed her sweet voice with a hypnotic amapiano sound and dope music video, and it sent her flying sky-high across social media platforms.
Her pouncing cat and gwara gwara dance moves hooked fans as she amassed over one million combined streams.
In just over a month, the video racked up over 930K YouTube views and spawned reels of TikTok content - a platform where Tyla is rapidly rising, with over 726K followers and over 10.6 million likes.
It also garnered playlist support on Apple Music’s Dance and Electronic playlists “The Wave and Vibes”.
@.tyla.s 400 000 🔓 THANK YOU TO MY TYGERS!!🐯🐅💕💕 ##GETTINGLATE
♬ Getting Late - Tyla
The playful video centres on Tyla and her troupe of female dancers bringing to life 2000s American R&B music video visuals in Johannesburg’s gritty landscape.
Marching bands and cheerleaders; laser lights, lingerie and mansions – this is a glorious manifestation of dreams for international stardom.
Filming for the elaborate video started just before the pandemic hit and then lockdown put Tyla’s debut on pause.
“I have never cried as much as I did last year.
“We set out wanting to make the best music video South Africa has ever seen, and it just felt like every success was followed by a hundred failures”, said Tyla
She added that everything in the music video was done by herself and her team.
“We did it ourselves. No major label deal, no investors, we handmade outfits, built sets, we worked for favours, and pushed harder than I thought possible.
“I don’t know if it’s the hottest video South Africa has ever seen, that’s for you to decide.
“But what I do know is that I’d never imagined in my life to look at something that I had made and be so proud,” she said.
The Johannesburg internet sensation said American R&B artists like Aaliyah and Cassie and home-grown sound like SA House, gqom and amapiano shaped her sound.
"l’m proud of being South African and I want to take Africa everywhere I go. It’s amazing how social media connects me with the world.
“TikTok allows me to express myself and show the world our South African dance moves like ’pouncing cat’ and the ’gwara gwara’,” Tyla said.
“I actually have a challenge for this video that combines some SA moves, so it’s like a little window into our culture.
“You have the Harlem Shake and we all know that, so you must also know how to Vuli Gate”.
With “Getting Late” steadily making waves around the globe, Tyla has now set her focus on building a career as a multi-hyphenate entertainer and shining a spotlight on Africa.
“I’m a singer first and foremost, but I love acting, dancing, drawing, and writing.
“I just love to express myself in all these different ways and I hope to explore all of these paths as I grow as an artist.
“I want to build a legacy for my family and South Africa.
“I see myself involving a lot of African people wherever I can, just to build the continent and bring the world’s attention to us,” she said.