Tyla is the new “it girl” on the music and fashion scene.
The “Truth or Dare” singer rose to fame last year with her hit single “Water,” which earned her a Grammy and became a viral dance sensation on TikTok.
Find out more about the musician whose 2024 Met Gala gown broke the internet.
She’s from South Africa
Tyla was born on January 30, 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Last December, she sparked backlash when she wore a necklace with the words “I am a coloured South African” on it, which Tyla said meant she “comes from a lot of different cultures.”
However, the word “colored” did not sit well with Tyla’s American fan base, who see the word as a slur used in the segregated Jim Crow era.
Her hit song “Water” sparked a viral dance sensation
The amapiano-based pop song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first for a South African solo artist since Hugh Masekala in 1968, and made Tyla the highest-charting African female solo musician in Billboard history, per Billboard.
“Water” also hit No. 1 on the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs and Hip-Hop/R&B charts.
The catchy song sparked a viral dance sensation, which is done to the part of the single when she sings: “Make me sweat, make me hotter / Make me lose my breath, make me water.”
Celebs such as Ciara and Jennifer Hudson have partaken in the #WaterChallenge.
She’s a Grammy award-winning singer
In February 2024, Tyla won her first Grammy for Best African Music Performance for her 2023 hit, “Water.”
“What the heck?!” she said while accepting her award. “This is crazy, I never thought I’d say I won a Grammy at 22 years old.”
Her 2024 Met Gala look topped best-dressed lists
Tyla made her mark while attending her first Met Gala on May 6, 2024, while wearing a floor-length Balmain dress made out of three shades of real sand and a matching purse shaped like an hourglass.
While the official dress code for the night was “The Garden of Time,” she was instead inspired by “the sands of time” for the distinctive design, as she explained during Vogue’s live stream.
“I’m wearing sand, basically, the sands of time. We really wanted something out of the box for this year,” she told La La Anthony at the biggest night in fashion.
“It feels amazing, I’m so excited to go inside and see all the pictures when I go home … I just love the outfit and how everything turned out.”
The dress made it hard for Tyla to sit and walk in and she had to be carried up the Met stairs.
After she walked the carpet, Balmain’s creative director, Olivier Rousteing, altered the gown by cutting it into a mini dress with scissors.
