Tyla Covers ELLE’s October 2024 Issue

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Tyla covers the October 2024 issue of ELLE Magazine photographed by Gregory Harris and styled by George Cortina.

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On wanting to share amapiano, South African house music with a wider audience: “When amapiano would come on, we would see everybody’s moves just change. Seeing the energy of it…it felt so spiritual,” she tells me. “I always wanted to mix it with other styles that I enjoy, like R&B and pop—and make it my own.” It was frustrating to watch her country’s unique music, from amapiano to kwaito house, go unnoticed by the rest of the world. “I felt it was so special, and it needed to be shared. I did my own version of it in hopes of getting people to go deeper and discover the other artists we have and the origins of my sound.”

On how Tyla’s family encouraged her to explore a career in music: Her mom, who was creative and did everything from making jewelry and candles to selling chocolate and real estate, told her she could sing. Her aunt, a professional dancer, taught her how to belly dance when she was small. And her grandmother told her stories of her days in singing competitions, back when she was vying for money and packets of cigarettes. “I was inspired. She would always push me. She’d make me sing a song 20 times until I got it right,” Tyla says.

Tyla on knowing she wanted to be a pop star: She auditioned for all the school plays, but singing was her dream. “It’s something I always really wanted, for myself, and for Africa, and for the world. Something different, something original,” she tells me. “I also just wanted to dress up. I’m not always inspirational, guys!”

When she started recording her own music during her final year of high school, it was hard to get used to singing in a studio, but exciting. “I heard myself on a song—I said, ‘There’s no way I’m not gonna do this.’ It felt like I was supposed to do it. Even though that song was not the best,” she says, laughing. Her parents wanted her to continue her education after high school, but eventually they came around. To this day, Tyla sends her music first to the family group chat before it’s released anywhere else. On her parents’ first trip to the United States, Tyla won a Grammy. “They came backstage after I won; my mom was crying. Because it’s so surreal,” she says.

On saying yes to Travis Scott for a “Water” remix: “Initially we weren’t going to have a remix, but after Travis asked, I was like, ‘Duh,’” Tyla says. “Whenever I get people mentioning that they want to collab, and it’s people that I’ve listened to all my life and been a fan of—again, I just message the family group chat. I get so genuinely excited,” she says. “It’s like, ‘Yes—like, yes, yes, yes.’”

Tyla on how the current embrace of African cultures by American artists and listeners has been rapid and meaningful: “I heard it wasn’t cool to be African in America, and I didn’t really know until I started being on social media in school,” Tyla says. She’d go live only to sometimes be met with derogatory names. “Then I realized it [being African] wasn’t welcome. I love that now people are showing more love and being more open to it and learning more about it. And just enjoying the music.

On the reason she’s so hands-on for every project she does: “I’m very involved in everything that I do: my sound, my image, what I wear, what I look like. It does matter, and it does matter that it goes with how I’m feeling, and it ties in with the music. Because at the end of the day, I’m an artist. I model, but it’s on the side.”

Modeling felt “awkward” to her at first. “But I realized that if there’s a bad shot, we’ll get a good one. I’m more comfortable making mistakes,” she says, adding that that approach applies to her music, too: “Being able to just go in the booth, sing a bunch of melodies—and some of them come out bad, some of them are amazing. Just being open to not being perfect all the time.” Tyla wants people who listen to her music to feel that it’s not “commercial, what we hear everywhere,” and to hear the presence of her culture. Something fresh, not calculated.

On the powerful and emotional connection she has to music: “Another thing about South African music: There can be a depressing song, but the beat just makes you wanna dance. So I also like incorporating that in my stuff. While you’re crying, dance and shake your **t the same time,” she says with a laugh. Whenever she listens to the amapiano song “Healer Ntliziyo Yam,” for instance, she cries. “I know what I like,” Tyla says. “I know what I wanna look like. I know what is cool, especially now. I trust my judgment, and yeah, I love collaborating with people and going outside of my comfort zone, but not too far off where it feels like something I wouldn’t do. If I don’t like it, I’m not going to do it.”

Tyla, reflecting on her wild year and shaking off comparisons to Rihanna and Britney Spears:  “I do feel like I’ve changed a lot in the span of a few months; people may not see it. I’m excited to see that in my next album.” She describes that change as starting to detach from what people say or think about her, after feeling annoyed at constant comparisons to Rihanna and “I’m a Slave 4 U”-era Britney Spears. “Initially I used to care. Recently I’ve just been feeling, ‘They’re gonna say what they wanna say, and it doesn’t even matter because I know it’s not that,’” Tyla says. She posts less, and sometimes deletes social media apps from her phone for a week at a time.

“This year was me introducing myself. Next year I’m just gonna have fun,” she says. “Do whatever, wear whatever. I’m just playing around a lot, and bringing a lot of my roots into my music. It’s still gonna be me, still sweaty vibes, but evolved.”

Written by Alexis Okeowo
Photographed by Gregory Harris
Styled by George Cortina

[Photo Credit: Gregory Harris for ELLE Magazine]

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