Tyla Seamlessly Marries Pop With Amapiano on Luminous Self-Titled Debut: Album Review
22.03.2024 - 19:37
/ variety.com
Thania Garcia Last year, Tyla established herself as a promising star with “Water,” her career-launching Top 10 single that earned her a Grammy long before she had a complete body of work in hand. But the song was proof of a working formula: “popiano,” a twist on South African amapiano that she uses to describe her blend of the genre’s piano-driven, tech-house beats and the progressive tempos of pop and R&B. On her self-titled debut, Tyla, born Tyla Laura Seethal, builds a world anchored by this formula, making for an enthralling first record that distinguishes her from her Afrobeats peers on a quest to pop crossover.
On “Tyla,” much of the album’s success is indebted to Tyla herself, whose delivery adds a new layer of intrigue to the quickly evolving South African genre. When Tyla sings, she’s not necessarily riffing but knows when to accentuate her delivery. On “Jump,” featuring Gunna and Jamaican dancehall DJ and rapper, Skillibeng, Tyla unlocks a new level of self-assurance, something you can distinctly hear in the way she phrases “prefer” in the first verse.
“Jump” has the most potential to catch on as a party anthem that could easily make for another viral dance trend, something that helped propel “Water” off TikTok and onto the charts. Tyla is nimble when it comes to her vocals. She knows when to fall back in an effortless-sounding whisper and refines her demure vocal style with quiet burning emotion.
The website popstar.one is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can
send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.