Tyla made historical past final evening because the inaugural winner of the Grammy Awards’ Finest African Music Efficiency class, with a sound that showcases richness and variety of African music. Her breakout single, Water, outshone formidable contenders corresponding to Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, and Musa Keys on the 66th awards evening, marking her grand entrance onto the worldwide music stage.
Tyla on stage at Giants of Africa, an important step within the star’s rise.
Tyla’s wave of Water success on Spotify – the globe’s greatest music streaming service in accordance with its 30% market share – commenced in July 2023, when the streaming large hosted a prerelease soiree at Greasy Tunes in Braamfontein on the 18 July.
This occasion was a consequence of her inclusion in RADAR Africa, the streamer’s initiative geared toward spotlighting rising artists worldwide. Seizing this career-defining alternative, Tyla, in collaboration with Spotify, chronicled her pursuit of worldwide recognition, culminating in an unique premiere of her RADAR Africa documentary.
This event additionally marked the general public debut of Water to an intimate viewers, a full 11 days previous to its official launch on the 28 July 2023.
Making waves
Spotify then teamed up with Giants of Africa for his or her inaugural pageant in Kigali, Rwanda, a celebration of the unifying energy of sports activities and music. Tyla benefitted with an invite to carry out as a RADAR artist, which birthed the viral Water problem by a viral video captured on the Giants of Africa stage on 19 August.
The Water tide rose sharply on Spotify, from 26August – lower than every week post-performance – with the track amassing 1,000,000 streams in a single day for the primary time on 15 September.
Swell of success
The track’s recognition continued to surge, hitting the 100 million stream mark by 26 October. Whereas it’s possible that almost all people with web entry have encountered the track sooner or later over the previous 12 months, it has discovered explicit resonance with Gen Z, who represent 32% of the Spotify viewers.
When it comes to playlists, Water has been featured in over 8 million playlists on the platform, together with each Spotify-curated and user-generated playlists, and has been saved for offline listening over 7 million instances up to now 12 months.
The facility of playlists
Spotify’s help for Water has been sustained over greater than 200 of the platform’s editorial and algorithmic playlists, together with the preferred ones corresponding to Right this moment’s Prime Hits, Viral Hits and Sizzling Hits in each the US and UK.
Playlists contribute massively to the invention of artists and their tracks
“Watching this track develop globally in locations just like the Philippines and Indonesia has been wonderful for us. Tyla is a large expertise from South Africa and the expansion we’ve got seen for this observe, over 300 million streams since launch, is a testomony to that,” says Jodie Tabisher, who manages artist, label and partnerships for Spotify in South Africa.
Water has traveled a good distance from the streets of Johannesburg and has seeped into the worldwide phases, with the US, Philippines, the UK, Brazil, and Australia making up the highest 5 nations streaming the track up to now 12 months.
With this Grammy win, it’s possible that the track tsunami will proceed months from now.
