Queen of Popiano: Tyla enters her A*Pop era

Pap and wors with spicy tomato relish, the lekker South African dish, is my homemade meal of choice for my planned Saturday night virtual rendezvous with megastar Tyla.

There is an electric tension and euphoria in the air — the world is buzzing after Paris Saint-Germain FC emerges victorious over Arsenal in a nail-biting final to win the Uefa Champions League.

Our long-distance digital check-in is at 9pm in Joburg and noon in LA. Tyla is running 30 minutes late. A member of her management team texts me that her last appointment ran over. As I wait, I indulge in my scrumptious dinner and re-watch the viral British Vogue video of Tyla in February 2025 cooking her favourite childhood meal, pap — the creamy, buttery, delicious Mzansi family staple rooted in memory, heritage, culture, and identity. When we eventually connect, it takes her signature “Yoh” to leave me transfixed; she’s smooth as melt-in-your-mouth pap.

Tyla “goated” pap and was amused midway through our tête-à-tête when I praised her for it.

“I was just being honest. That’s something I would make in my kitchen, so I wanted to make it in that kitchen. Vogue and pap don’t go in a sentence,” she laughs. “It doesn’t make sense, and that’s why I wanted to do it even more. I would have loved as a child to see someone make pap on Vogue.”

That authenticity, paired with her idiosyncratic influence and finished with her hypnotic Coloured accent, is what makes Tyla relatable. She has all the right “Gs” — goofy, grounded, and genuine.

Aside from pap, what else does she miss about Mzansi? Top of her list is her family in Edenvale. She talks of staying grounded by remaining in close contact with her best friends, Bokamoso and Thato, from Edenglen High School, where Tyla matriculated in 2019. “I never had a big circle … the tight circle that I had, I still have. Boka and Thato have been with me since school. I grew up around a lot of my siblings’ friends because our house was the party house … they became like family.”

Tyla has come a long way since she first caught the world’s attention in early 2023 with sleeper hits Getting Late, Girl Next Door, and Been Thinking. After sitting front row at the Dolce & Gabbana show in Milan next to Kim Kardashian and then opening for Chris Brown during his European tour, she graced the cover of SMag’s June 2023 Youth issue. At the time, we billed her “the one to watch”. Then, in July 2023, she released her smash single Water and everyone was watching.

Three years later, Tyla is the name on everyone’s lips. Other mega hits — Chanel, Art, Truth or Dare, Jump and Push 2 Start — have catapulted her into global superstardom. Dubbed the Queen of Popiano (a fusion of amapiano, pop, and R&B) by her fans — affectionately called Tygers — the 24-year-old has worked with big names, including Cardi B, Gunna, Future, Zara Larsson, Lisa, Sean Paul, Tems, Becky G, Wizkid, and Travis Scott.

“I could never have imagined this. It feels like it’s being written as I’m living it,” Tyla says. “It’s insane, it’s exciting, I’m 24, young, and I’m living this life that feels like it only happens on TV. When you are the person behind it, it doesn’t always feel the way it does for people who experience it from the outside. People on the outside see it as bigger than the person experiencing it … I don’t sit over here and go, ‘Hey, I’m a megastar’.”

On 24 July, Tyla enters a new era with the release of her much-anticipated second album A*Pop, following the success of her self-titled debut album in 2024. Chanel, She Did it Again, and Is It offer a taste of the music she mostly recorded while on tour, performing in cities like Cape Town, London, Pretoria, New York, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.

“A*Pop is different because I’m a different person than I was when I made Tyla. A*Pop is made through the experiences that I’ve had living as someone who is in the limelight,” she shares. “Last year was a year of a lot of growth. I was doing everything and anything, experiencing so many different things. It felt exciting to make it and watch it become what it is now. It was effortless and almost like a diary entry. Throughout making the album, I was going out a lot. I was listening to a lot of music playing in clubs in all the different countries I was in. I would also go to karaoke. I would be singing so many songs that I enjoyed as a child and connected with that again.”

One of the collaborators on the album is her BFF and Swedish counterpart, Larsson, who appears on the song She Did It Again. Their sisterhood bond has captivated the world. “Zara is such a pop star, and working with her on A*Pop was not something that was intentional; it fell into place on its own. That’s how I enjoy collaborating the most, it’s when it feels honest and genuine. It doesn’t feel like a business transaction,” she says. “It’s refreshing having someone in the industry who is honest, and you can show up as a human before a pop star. It’s not easy to find people in the industry who you can be a person with. We do get along; we laugh a lot, and we don’t take life as seriously.”

Tyla is a two-time Grammy winner, first scooping Best African Music Performance in 2024 for Water. In February, she collected her second Grammy for Push 2 Start in the same category, looking breathtaking in a crystal-embellished archival DSquared2 number. “Yoh! That day was very hectic,” she recalls. “I was obsessed with my dress. I was excited to attend, and there were so many interviews. We lost track of time, and then they announced the award before I got to the ceremony. So, I was running, trying to make it. We ended up celebrating it in the venue’s lobby. Not a lot of people get that, especially with one album, two Grammys.”

The fashion world also can’t get enough of Tyla, who is becoming a regular, attending runway shows by Valentino, Jacquemus, Miu Miu, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Chanel. Her favourite style moment so far? Turning up the thermostat in a cleavage-forward seashell crop jacket by George Troch at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards.

“I like certain things about everything that I wear. But not everything. There are some looks where I’m like, ‘Yoh! I wish I’d never worn that,’” she chuckles. “I have always enjoyed being some sort of a muse … channelling what I want in a specific moment, depending on how I feel. In my personal style, I have been enjoying how I would dress if I weren’t a pop star. As a 24-year-old girl, what would I want to wear? So, I’ve been wearing a lot of jeans and white tops. Simple clothing, but customising it like I used to when I was growing up. So I’ve been cutting out tank tops and making them into different types of tank tops. Just making up outfits in my room as if I were normal Tyla.”

Her Met Gala looks have been polarising over the past three years, first transforming into a Balmain sand sculpture in 2024, showing her stripes in Jacquemus last year, and, last month, going full peacock in Valentino. “I loved the sand dress because I’ve never seen anything like that, and I could never have expected it to become what it became,” she replies, choosing her favourite Met look. “It felt like a full performance without us planning anything. This recent one [Valentino] is also a favourite because I had a good night. Going into it was so easy, and no one was stressed. It felt like an outfit I would naturally wear when going out. It didn’t feel like I was trying to be a ‘whole Met Gala’. Then the after-party was so nice. I went with my team, we had the best time, and there were no phones. It really felt like a moment you had to live out and tell stories about.”

Away from the limelight, what does a normal day look like in Tyla’s life? “I love to laugh and have a good time. When my siblings are around, we do anything. My friends too. I enjoy going out, listening to music and karaoke. Just experiencing things. I like a theme park. I like to chill at home and just vibe. Just lie around, lie in the sun. I like to lie on the grass. I like to listen to my album [A*Pop], and I’ve been listening to it over and over.”