Tyla’s VMA Speech After Winning Afrobeats Category Causes Drama: “I’m South African, I Rep Amapiano”

• South African singer Tyla recently caused a stir with her speech at the 2024 VMAs after winning the Best Afrobeats Award
• The Water crooner talked about how it was a bit sad that every African music was categorised as Afrobeats
• Tyla added that she was South African and represented Amapiano, a statement that got some netizens talking
• Social media expert, Crackit, expressed displeasure with Tyla's speech in a chat with Legit.ng

South African singer Tyla recently won big at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) by bagging the Best Afrobeats Award.

The 22-year-old music star, however, caused a buzz on social media with her acceptance speech after receiving the award.

In a video that was posted on the Water crooner’s official Instagram page, she was captured on the VMAs stage speaking about how her win was a bittersweet one for her.

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According to Tyla, people tend to group all African musicians under the umbrella of Afrobeats even though African music is very diverse.

Tyla went on to recognise the impact of Afrobeats on the world stage while making it clear that she is South African and she represents Amapiano.

In her words:

“The global impact that Water had on the world just 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, 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’s more than just Afrobeats. I come from South Africa, I represent Amapiano, I represent my culture and I just want to shout out to all the Afrobeats artists in this category with me, Tems! Ayra Starr, shout out Lojay, Rema, Wizkid, Burna Boy, all of us!”

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See her video below:

What fans said about Tyla’s VMA speech

Tyla’s VMA speech after winning the Afrobeats category was met with mixed reactions from netizens. Read what some of them had to say about it below:

Aderinsola said she loved how Tyla schooled them:

Vawulence said Tyla educated the audience:

This tweep said Wizkid was dragged in the past for saying a similar thing:

Nubi said the award organisers needed to do better:

Omo Alhaja wondered how an Amapiano artist won an Afrobeats award:

This tweep said Tyla passed her message well:

Dan said Tyla doesn’t even do Amapiano:

African said she educated Americans:

Tyla should have rejected the award - Crackit

After Tyla's statement about representing Amapiano while receiving an Afrobeats award at the VMAs went viral, a Nigerian social media expert, Tobi Crackit, said that the 22-year-old singer should not have accepted the award. In his words:

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"I think she should have rejected the award since she claimed she isn't an Afrobeats artiste. Imagine Burna Boy getting Hip Hop Song of the Year at the Grammys and then, in his acceptance speech, saying, "I am not a hip-hop artist". She should reject it."

Crackit also addressed the issue of an Amapiano singer getting nominated in an Afrobeats category in the first place. He said:

"The category is clearly a miscategorization because what they mean is "African music", which she should have understood."

Tyla slammed for defending Chidimma Adetshina

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Tyla faced backlash over her tweets, which she posted, reacting to how Chidimma Adetshina, who withdrew from Miss South Africa, was treated by her countrymen.

Tyla, reacting to the invitation Miss Universe Nigeria extended to Chidimma, expressed disappointment over the way the latter was treated, wishing her success in her future endeavours.

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Tyla's tweet, however, sparked reactions from South Africans as they accused her of misrepresenting their country.

Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng