South African popstar Tyla’s self-titled album, which was released little over ten weeks ago on March 22, has now garnered over one billion Spotify streams.
The remarkable achievement adds to Tyla’s spectacular journey to celebrity in just a few months. The South African singer was relatively unknown until the release of her smash single ‘Water’ in July 2023, which is also featured on the just published album. That song sparked a viral dance challenge on TikTok, generating global interest in the then-21-year-old vocalist.
“Water,” a true depiction of Africa’s contemporary popular music culture, combines Afrobeats, amapiano, and R&B, and this combination of sounds may have contributed to the song’s popularity. Along with becoming a top-10 smash in major music markets like the US, UK, and Australia, the song also earned Tyla a Grammy for Best African Music Performance early in February.
The groundbreaking song, which has had over 650 million plays on Spotify alone, is trailed by “Jump” with about 85 million plays, “Truth or Dare” with 87 million, and Gunna and Skillibeng with around 85 million. In contrast, “ART” had 42 million streams. With the exception of “Water,” these results indicate that Tyla has transcended the realm of one-hit wonders and set herself up for an incredibly prosperous future.
