Things have changed rather quickly, and on the groovy yet cautionary “Truth or Dare”— her current favorite track in her growing discography—the artist confronts past connections that dare to circle the block to inhabit her orbit with leech-like affinities now that she’s found her footing in music. Instead, she’s focused on having the party go “On and On” with her voice as a constant, whilst laughing at the misconceptions about her. Namely, “that I literally came out of nowhere and I’m an industry plant.It’s like, what the heck? I’m a whole plant? Imagine. No way,” she laughs. “People don’t know how hard I’ve worked and how hard my team has worked to get here. But I mean, everyone’s gonna get that [who] comes up from a social media viral moment. So it’s understandable.”
The truth is that it’s time for a pop star like Tyla, and the parallels drawn between her and Rihanna aren’t coincidental, as the Bajan star is a huge source of inspiration for the singer. “I love that [Rihanna] was able to come from somewhere outside of America and make it so big… I really looked up to that.”
Between sips of blueberry lemonade and croons of Normani and Cardi B’s “Wild Side,” Tyla shares that she’s always wanted to be a princess. While crime documentaries are her personal favorite to watch, she wants to play a Disney princess one day, and it wouldn’t hurt for it to be a musical. With a focus on theater in school, Tyla acted and directed plays, gravitating toward fairy tale roles. And although she affirms she was a fan of Netflix’s “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” she shakes her head when asked if a role like Charlotte’s would be fitting. “Too serious!”
“Things used to be more interesting,” Tyla lands. “Watching celebrities’ lives, it never used to be so in your face. There’s no sense of mystery [now]… I just want to bring that feeling back,” she says. “But not so serious. Like people are watching a movie, but in real life.”
Slowly and suddenly, some parts of the 21-year-old’s initial perception of American reality doesn’t seem so far-fetched for herself. As we exit the arcade, a young group of teens shyly point and giggle toward the rising star as they walk past her and exit the building before one of them tells the other “Take a picture, bitch!” They then rush back in and wait for her to finish recording a thank you video for her social media followers before approaching her. The rising pop star is keenly aware of both the power of towing the line of privacy and flowing to new heights while sharing bits of everything, everywhere, all at once.
Where and with whom she does that is to be determined, and moving home bases isn’t entirely out of the picture as her reach and stride steadies. “I love South Africa way too much,” she initially says. “The people, my food, my whole family, my whole life is there. So, if I were to move it would be… it would be a very difficult move. But if it makes sense for work, then I might be an American girl,” she smirks.
We land on an elegant mood ring “for adults” that mimics the ones we all had as kids, and blue pops up when she puts it on her finger. The back of the packaging details its meaning: “You’re good. You’re fine. Carry on.”
