South African artist Tyla achieves a historic debut on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart with her song “Water.” The viral sensation, which had been trending on TikTok for several weeks, now sits at No. 67 on the Hot 100. She becomes the first South African solo musician to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 since jazz legend Hugh Masekela’s “Grazing in the Grass” 55 years ago.
At just 21 years old, Tyla, born Tyla Seethal also becomes the youngest South African musician to grace this chart.
In response to this news, Tyla expressed her excitement on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “I’m a South African girl born and raised in Johannesburg. This is crazy.”
In another tweet she shared, “This is a win for the whole of Africa… unity will give us the power to go further. let’s take our sound to the world” adding the South African and Nigerian Flags together.
“Water” returns to its peak of No. 37 on global Spotify with 2.22 million streams while on US Spotify, it reaches a new peak of #86 with 427k plays.
Tyla’s journey to the Billboard Hot 100 began when “Water” started gaining traction in August, thanks to TikTok videos featuring her dancing to the track. “Water” blends various genres, including Afrobeats, pop, R&B, and Amapiano, a South African electronic dance music style. Its infectious appeal led to the creation of the viral water dance challenge, with the song being used in over 500,000 TikTok videos. This challenge also brought South African choreographer Lee-ché Janecke’s Bacardi dance routine to a global audience, characterized by lively movements, hip shaking, belly dancing, twerking, and pouring water down the dancer’s back.
One of Tyla’s TikTok dance videos for her song amassed over 70 million views, while the song’s music video received more than one million views on YouTube within a day of its October 6th release. This achievement marks the first time a South African female artist has accomplished this feat, according to the World Music Awards. “Water” has garnered over 3.7 million YouTube views and boasts 10.7 million monthly Spotify listeners for Tyla.
Additionally, the song has made its mark on other music charts in the US and UK, including spending a second week at No. 2 on the Billboard Afrobeats chart. It peaked at No. 12 on the TikTok chart, and moves up from 36 last week to 22 this week on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs charts. While on the Billboard South African Songs chart Water moves up to No. 10 after three weeks on the chart.
Some of Tyla’s previous songs, such as “Been Thinking” and “Girl Next Door” (featuring Nigerian Afrobeats star Ayra Starr), have also enjoyed success making her the first South African artist to surpassed 10 million monthly streams.
Earlier in the year, Tyla served as the opening act for Chris Brown’s “Under the Influence” music tour in Europe after Skillibeng pulled out.
With the ongoing success of “Water” and her plans to release her first album in November, Tyla is emerging as a key player among a new generation of global musical talents, further elevating South Africa and the African continent on the global music map.
