VARIETY Magazine: Tyla on Staying True to Herself and Breaking Cultural Norms

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In a new cover story for VARIETY’s Power of Young Hollywood issue, Tyla speaks with Music Reporter Thania Garcia about breaking norms as a global superstar, being in love, and more.

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Tyla on breaking cultural norms early in her career:

Adding to the pressure of the beginnings of her career were cultural mores whereby women are in submissive roles — “You stay out of men’s conversations, the men eat first,” she says — making it even more challenging for a young woman to take charge.

“I remember being in my hotel room and my managers were calling me, ‘Come down, we need to cut the song.’I was crying and thinking, ‘This is not what I want. I didn’t get signed to do this,’” she says of the push to record songs that didn’t reflect her vision. “They had to [coax] me out of that room. But I think through doing that, I realized how much more I love African music. It made me more persistent in keeping my ideas…I think back to recording ‘Water,’ and I couldn’t have been more closed off to the outside world. It was just me, my engineer and his pregnant wife.”

On the lyrics of her song “Bliss”:

“It’s such a real love song,” she says, acknowledging that its deeply sensual lyrics are “a bit dramatic…But they are things I’ve said and felt: ‘I don’t want to live without you.’ It’s so intense…but beautiful. Losing something or someone that I love is probably my biggest fear.”

On the unexpected success of “Water”:

“When ‘Water’ happened, I wasn’t ready. I became obsessed with the idea of doing things ‘right.’ I wanted more time to make mistakes to fully figure out who I am as an artist, but then things just went…Well, you know.”

On her newfound fame as a South African artist:

Tyla is from Edenvale, South Africa, a village of 70,000 people outside the metropolis of Johannesburg.

“What’s happened to me is not a normal thing. I don’t think any human could go from where I came from and feel normal about millions of people knowing who you are. I respect the African and South African artists that came before me and literally helped me get here. I’m grateful for everything, and to be able to represent my country is something that I’m so happy to carry.”

On bargaining with her parents to let her pursue a career in music:

Tyla describes her parents as “intentionally strict” to her and her siblings, although she’s come to appreciate the discipline.

“We weren’t allowed to sleep over or even go to friends’ houses. But I didn’t mind it terribly; we’d be having so much fun just staying home.”

Tyla began posting videos on YouTube, and by the time she was 16, she had built a small online following that caught the attention of FAX Records co-founder Garth von Glehn, who invited her to use his studio to record. With her parents’ reluctant support, Tyla accepted the offer. Her parents gave her a year to pursue her dream of a musical career.

“In my culture, there’s a heavy emphasis on respecting your elders, and it’s an unspoken [rule] that you can’t question them…I just remember telling them they could trust me, and they told me all they truly cared about was my safety. My best friend, Thato, who is now my creative director, went with me everywhere and has been with me every step of the way. That made it easier for my family, who ultimately just wanted to know I wasn’t alone.”

[Photo Credit: Richie Shazam for Variety Magazine – Variety/YouTube]

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