South African singer Tyla has voiced her concerns about the Western tendency to label all African music as Afrobeats.
While accepting the award for Best Afrobeats Song at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday night, Tyla acknowledged that Afrobeats has paved the way for African music globally but emphasized that not all African music falls under this genre.
She highlighted her South African roots and her representation of the Amapiano genre.
Tyla stated, “The success of ‘Water’ around the world shows that African music can also be pop music. This moment is special, but also bittersweet, because there’s a habit of grouping all African artists under Afrobeats.
“Although Afrobeats has been dominant and opened many doors for us, African music is incredibly diverse—there’s so much more than just Afrobeats.
“I’m from South Africa, and I represent Amapiano. I present my culture. I want to give a shout out to all the Afrobeats artists in this category with me—Tems, Ayra Starr, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Rema, and Lojay.”