“African songs can be pop music too” – Singer Tyla criticizes Afrobeats grouping

• Tyla, in accepting her Best Afrobeats Song award at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, acknowledged the significant opportunities Afrobeats has provided for African music.

• She argued that categorizing all music from Africa under the Amapiano genre is flawed, stating that she is from South Africa.

South African artist Tyla has voiced her apprehensions regarding the Western entertainment industry’s inclination to categorize all African music as Afrobeats.

During her acceptance speech for Best Afrobeats Song at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday evening, Tyla recognized the numerous opportunities that Afrobeats has afforded African music.

Nevertheless, she stressed the inaccuracy of classifying all music from the continent within this singular genre, asserting her South African identity and her representation of the Amapiano genre.

“The impact that ‘Water’ has had on the world proves that African music can be pop music, too. This is so special but also bittersweet. Because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under Afrobeats.

“Even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse. It’s more than just Afrobeats.

“I come from South Africa, I represent Amapiano. I present my culture. And I just want to shout out all the Afrobeats artists in this category with me. Shout out to all the Afrobeats artistes Tems, Ayra Starr, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Rema and Lojay,” she stated.