Review: Tyla steps up, tunes in with toned-down aquabatics
The 22-year-old’s first full album is a star-studded extension of her verve.
Wilfred Okiche
Tyla went from promising starlet to inaugural winner of the Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance in an incredibly short space of time, thanks to her world-conquering major label debut, with the single Water.
Anticipation for the South African sensation’s first album was sky high.
Tyla recognises the attention that has come her way since the song found mainstream success. They never had a pretty girl from Jo’burg/See me now, and that’s what they prefer, she proclaims on Jump (featuring Gunna and Skillibeng), a bouncy dancehall-inflected tune off her self-titled debut.
To her credit, save for a Travis Scott-assisted remix that showcases her fun personality and sleek vocal game, Tyla doesn’t chase after Water on the album, which is a fine if undistinguished curation of 13 tracks. The production is sound and the finish shiny. Tyla’s moods shift from flirty to confident depending on the needs of the song, and her sweet spot is a confluence of Afrobeats, amapiano log-drums, pop and R&B melodies, sometimes all in the same song.
Album opener Safer is a straight dive into the slick world of Afrobeats, complete with multilayered chorus. Ditto the previously released Truth or Dare.
Nigerian singer Tems gives a brief jolt of energy to No.1 but the song itself is too flighty to make any lasting impression. American performer Becky G makes On My Body more memorable than it has a right to be.
The album was never going to match the hype of Tyla’s industry-anointed era. The sexy, shrewd alchemy captured and bottled on Water was one of those major pop events that simply cannot be replicated – at least not so soon.
In the meantime, Tyla’s first album still makes for a good time.