South Africa’s Tyla shone at the recently held MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs). The South African singer became the first African artist to win three single-night awards at the ceremony held on Sunday at Co-op Live in Manchester, United Kingdom.
First, she knocked out prominent Nigerian opponents such as Asake, Rema, Burna Boy, Ayra Starr, and Tems to win “Best Afrobeats.”
She went on to win “Best African Act,” outperforming Asake, Ayra Starr, DBN Gogo, TitoM & Yuppe, and Tanzanian singer Diamond Platnumz. She also won “Best R&B,” topping Kehlani, SZA, Tinashe, Usher, and Victoria Monét.
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She did, however, lose the title of “Best New Artiste” to America’s Benson Boone.
In her acceptance speech for the Best Afrobeats award, Tyla expressed gratitude to the Afrobeats genre for paving the way for African music.
The 22-year-old remarked, “I’m so honored to be winning this award. Afrobeats has opened so many doors for African music.”
Her win for Best R&B surprised many. “I’m just as shocked as you guys… R&B is a huge influence on my music, especially Aaliyah. She’s one of my idols,” she said about the win in a video posted on the EMAs’ Instagram account.
Tyla paid homage to Aaliyah by wearing a blue outfit at the EMAs, identical to the one Aaliyah wore at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.
The “Truth or Dare” also wowed the EMA audience with her famous song “Water” at the Co-op Live in Manchester and her disruptive new track “Push 2 Start.”
Despite her triple win, Taylor Swift was the biggest winner of the night, taking home four awards, including Best Artist and Best Video.
