Tyla after winning Afrobeats award: ‘I come from South Africa, represent Amapiano’

After winning the MTV Music Videos Award’s Afrobeats category, Tyla, a well-known musician from South Africa, came to identify with the country’s Amapiano music.

Even though the superstar from Johannesburg won the Afrobeats category, she openly said that she represented the amapiano.

Tyla also had some criticism for the organizers’ categorization of African music.

“I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists as Afrobeats. Even though Afrobeats has run things and opened doors for us, African music is so diverse,” Tyla said.

“I come from South Africa and I represent Amapiano and my culture,” Tyla added before shouting out to Rema, Tems, Ayra Starr, Burna Boy, Wikzid, Davido, and other Afrobeats acts with whom she was nominated.

She described her win as “special, but also bittersweet”.

“This is such a big moment for Africa [and] African music,” began Tyla, as she became the first South African artist to win a VMA.

“This is just so special, but also bittersweet because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under Afrobeat[s]. It’s a thing, and even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse, it is more than just Afrobeats.