South African pop sensation, Tyla has made history on Wednesday night, September 11, at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, held at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, by becoming the first South African to win a VMA.

Tyla clinched the award for Best Afrobeats with her major hit, “Water,” a track that has garnered over 230 million views on YouTube and nearly 800 million streams on Spotify.

During her acceptance speech, Tyla humorously remarked about the weight of the award. “You guys know me and holding awards, yoh hai. I’m not strong enough,” she said, playfully asking Lil Nas X, who was standing next to Halle Bailey, to hold her trophy for her.

The singer expressed her gratitude to MTV, her fans whom she affectionately calls her Tygers, her team, and God. “This is such a big moment for Africa [and] African music,” she said.

The Best Afrobeats category was first introduced to the VMAs in 2023 and was previously awarded to Rema and Selena Gomez. Tyla is the first solo artist to win in this category.

She highlighted the global impact of her hit “Water,” stating, “The global impact that Water has had on the world just proves that African music can be pop music too.”

However, Tyla also acknowledged the challenges African artists face.

“This is just so special, but also bittersweet because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under Afrobeats. 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.”
Tyla

Tyla appreciated her roots and the broader Afrobeats community.

“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.”
Tyla

She mentioned Tems, Ayra Starr, Lojay, Rema, Wizkid, and Burna Boy, concluding with a celebratory “Africa to the world.”

The Afrobeats category nominees included Giveon (with Ayra Starr), Burna Boy, Chris Brown with Davido and Lojay, Tems, and Usher with Pheelz.

Tyla was also nominated for Best New Artist and Best R&B.

Taylor Swift emerged as the standout winner of the night, taking home seven awards, including Video of the Year for “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone.

Other notable winners included Sabrina Carpenter, who won Song of the Year, and Chappell Roan, who received the Best New Artist prize. SZA, Eminem, Lenny Kravitz, and Blackpink’s Lisa were also among the evening’s laureates.

Singer Roasted After Winning VMA Award

Despite Tyla’s gracious remarks, the disbelief among Nigerians remains palpable.

Many are calling out MTV Base for their apparent ignorance and misrepresentation of the Afrobeats genre, while others praised Tyla for her honest and respectful speech.

This isn’t the first time Tyla has snagged an award from a Nigerian artist. Earlier this year, she made headlines when she triumphed over heavyweights like Davido, Asake, Olamide, and Burna Boy to clinch the Best African Music Performance of 2024 at the Grammys.

Social media users blasted Tyla for the video. Many said she should stop acting like she is the only superstar.

“They robbed us again, but we’re still the best lol.”
richyyflexy

“Shoutout to Tyla but that shit ain’t Afrobeat. There is nothing Afrobeat about her music.”
baba_rosecoe

“The organizers are the problem. The fact an artist is from Africa doesn’t make them an Afrobeats artist. Can you all just put the afro thing aside and see them as just artists? I’m a music fan and this is disrespectful.”
an_dywilliams