Step into the vibrant world of South African music with Tyla, the songbird whose melodies are as enchanting as the diverse landscapes of her home country. She doesn't just sing; she tells a story woven with the threads of her eclectic upbringing and the pulsing beats of Amapiano that have taken the world by storm. As Tyla recounts her dazzling journey from the academic halls to the glittering lights of the Grammy week, rubbing shoulders with the likes of SZA and Miguel, it becomes clear that her voice is a bridge between worlds, a melody of dreams realized.
The tapestry of our conversation is rich with the colors of Tyla's aspirations, from her heart-thumping debut success to the thrilling anticipation of her next project that promises to be a mosaic of sounds and African flair. She lets us peek behind the curtain at her creative collaborations with global music maestros and her love affair with cinema, from horror flicks to Disney princess dreams. And as we traverse the rhythms of her life, from her family's influence to the vibrant nuances of South African culture, Tyla's story unfolds not just as an artist's narrative but as a beacon of inspiration, a symphony of an African pop sensation in the making.
Disclaimer: This interview was recorded early 2023.
Talk Soon! ✌🏾
Stay connected! Follow @wnttlk on all platforms.
Step into the vibrant world of South African music with Tyla, the songbird whose melodies are as enchanting as the diverse landscapes of her home country. She doesn't just sing; she tells a story woven with the threads of her eclectic upbringing and the pulsing beats of Amapiano that have taken the world by storm. As Tyla recounts her dazzling journey from the academic halls to the glittering lights of the Grammy week, rubbing shoulders with the likes of SZA and Miguel, it becomes clear that her voice is a bridge between worlds, a melody of dreams realized.
The tapestry of our conversation is rich with the colors of Tyla's aspirations, from her heart-thumping debut success to the thrilling anticipation of her next project that promises to be a mosaic of sounds and African flair. She lets us peek behind the curtain at her creative collaborations with global music maestros and her love affair with cinema, from horror flicks to Disney princess dreams. And as we traverse the rhythms of her life, from her family's influence to the vibrant nuances of South African culture, Tyla's story unfolds not just as an artist's narrative but as a beacon of inspiration, a symphony of an African pop sensation in the making.
Disclaimer: This interview was recorded early 2023.
Talk Soon! ✌🏾
Stay connected! Follow @wnttlk on all platforms.
Hello, my name is Tyler. I'm a singer-songwriter from South Africa. You might have heard my song Getting Late or my new song Been Thinking. Nila, we need to talk.
Speaker 2:Alright, what's going on guys? Nila Simone here. Welcome to another episode of we Need to Talk. Today is a very special day because I'm interviewing my first South African artist, and it's not a little artist. This girl has been everywhere. I checked my international group bread and they're like you got Tyler coming on your show. It's a big deal. So I want to welcome my guest, tyler. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm great. It's so nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. I love your energy. I love your style. You're so beautiful. I love your energy also. Thank you. So how long have you been here?
Speaker 1:In New York or America Just over a week.
Speaker 2:How's it treating you? I know it's cold.
Speaker 1:It's cold as hell yeah, it's so cold, it's cold, but I'm enjoying it.
Speaker 2:You get to get the fits off.
Speaker 1:You can say your own stuff.
Speaker 2:I saw you were in LA for Grammy week. How was that? It was?
Speaker 1:crazy. I met SZA. I met Miguel oh my god, I love Miguel. I met Steve Lase. I met people.
Speaker 2:He's actually on my iPad. I love Miguel Miguel and Stevie Wonder and J-Corps are my favorites. That's so funny. Wow, did you fan out when you met them? Yes, you did.
Speaker 1:Yes, I did not keep it cool, I was starstruck. That is hilarious. No, it was crazy. I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2:Usually people try to act like oh hi, nice to meet you. No.
Speaker 1:No, I was like wow, I love that.
Speaker 2:I love that Did they reciprocate it well?
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were all nice, All of them. Did you ask for a collab? I never go there for Imagine. I was there for collabs. No, I wasn't there for why.
Speaker 2:Why do you gotta be? Why not? I'm here for it. I would love to see that. I would really love to see you and Ariana Grande collab.
Speaker 1:What makes you think like? Because you remind me of her Dancing way more different.
Speaker 2:Sound wise, upbeat music wise, I feel like you guys are in the same beat. That would be a massive record. Yeah, I'd love to.
Speaker 1:Are you a fan of her? Yeah, I love her music. I loved watching her.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and the Nickelodeon. So, growing up, being from South Africa, what were your sounds of influence?
Speaker 1:Music wise. I listened to everything my father would play like a rap, r&b, pop, kwaito it's a genre back home house. So I just grew up listening to it all.
Speaker 2:So your dad would put you on to music? Yeah, I would say my father did. I loved that. My dad too, honestly. Was your mom into music at all?
Speaker 1:Yeah, my whole family, my family that sing, play instruments, so it was our thing.
Speaker 2:Do they travel with you and perform with you at all?
Speaker 1:No, it's literally just me and Sean. They're in the corner Traveling everywhere, but sometimes I travel with my best friend. Okay, I love that.
Speaker 2:You said I've seen in one of your interviews. You said that you had your sisters in one of the music videos. Do they sing and dance as well too?
Speaker 1:My youngest sister. She's on TikTok and Instagram. That's her thing, but she doesn't really sing and dance Okay so you're really the only like, yeah, the only sibling that's into all of this. Okay.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it Alright. So I want to know more about you growing up, because you're still so young, you're only 21, but you've already accomplished a lot. But what was it like, I guess? How are you in high school? Were you in the sports, did you cheerlead, or were you, like always, music driven?
Speaker 1:My school never had cheerleading, no, no. So I was the theater kid like drama choir dancing. I was like doing all of those.
Speaker 2:Gotcha.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was my thing.
Speaker 2:Were you like making good grades or you ratted it more into the arts?
Speaker 1:Nah, I was getting good grades. Okay, yeah, I was getting good grades. Yeah, so yeah, but my focus was the Always music.
Speaker 2:Always. I was always there. Do you know how they have like those videos of Beyonce like performing early on where she always knew she wanted to be this, when you consider yourself like that also?
Speaker 1:Definitely like I have videos of me so small like belly dancing, modeling, singing, yeah, I always knew that it was what I wanted to do. I love that.
Speaker 2:So they're saying you're the lead of the on-piano pop. Sound like you're leading that and breaking it for your country. Now I went to Ghana for what is it? New Year's, just past New Year's, and that was my first time actually really hearing it live at Afrochella. I'm like, oh wow, this is really beautiful and it's very soulful. And then when I get introduced to you, I'm like, oh wow, this is very like fun pop, but still just as beautiful. So how did you come up with the sound?
Speaker 1:So I always enjoyed making like pop music and R&B music and one day I just decided to add like my culture into it. Like who I was I'm a piano from, like like the beats I always loved I'm a piano and I just felt like I wanted a taste of home in my music. So that's when we made Getting Late Okay, and yeah, it was my first song in it that was your first song ever First song I released ever Really.
Speaker 2:I know I'm shocked. No, I really am shocked.
Speaker 1:So before that were you doing like R&B covers, like while on Instagram, I would like write songs and record myself and post them. Okay, and then I ended up getting discovered by this guy that's now my manager. Okay, thanks. I recorded for the first time there and my last day of school. Every weekend I'd go there and record and record and make thousands of songs, and then Getting Late was the first one where we felt like, okay, this is it.
Speaker 2:Okay, so before Getting Late, what were the sonics sounding like?
Speaker 1:It was a lot of R&B and pop. Yeah, Getting Late was the first song we experimented on and it worked. And it worked Like it just felt right.
Speaker 2:Like those other records, like would you still release those, or are you sticking in this pocket that you found and you love.
Speaker 1:I feel like I've just become better since then, so I would not even look back then. But yeah, like it was good for that time I love that.
Speaker 2:So, since you've been here, I don't know how long you're staying, but do you see yourself collaborating with some American producers? Yes, yeah, absolutely Definitely. Is there any in particular that you're interested in working with?
Speaker 1:I met London on the track oh fire and we were speaking a bit about working, so that would be a cool collab.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You're interested in all the greats in R&B right now.
Speaker 1:Initially, but I've been working with Tricky Stewart. He worked on my previous song, oh fire. So yeah, like I'm enjoying it here, I love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've seen you spend some time in Atlanta too, right? No, I've never been. No, never. I thought I seen it on your Instagram. Maybe I'm bugging. I'm bugging. Yeah, absolutely, okay, you would definitely like Atlanta. Atlanta is a vibe, so okay. So getting late was your first record. I can't believe that's your first record, because that one was so massive. That usually does not happen. Are you almost scared of how fast you're going?
Speaker 1:Yes, like sometimes I want to slow down a bit because I'm like, okay, let me do this right. But also, like in my heart, I feel like I really feel like it's my calling and I just trust that everything will go well. So I'm just trusting in God at this point.
Speaker 2:It seems like it. I'm convinced. So, that being said, it's your calling and you're just getting started. Five years from now, where do you see yourself?
Speaker 1:I see myself performing on huge stages like Beyonce level, like making production shows. I really want to be a performer, performer, performer. Beyonce is a huge inspiration when it comes to that, so I want to be able to do that and be able to say that, like the biggest pop stars from Africa, born and raised you know- yeah, that would be dope.
Speaker 2:We definitely haven't seen that yet, are you? Because right now you only have singles out? Are you going to be putting out a project soon? Yeah, yeah. What's the project theme? What's the word? When are we getting it Like? What's the T?
Speaker 1:The plan is to release it like this summer. Okay, we don't have a name. Well, we have like a working title, but I don't want to say anything yet. Okay, you're not committed. Yeah, yeah, I know I change my mind like all the time. Okay, so I don't want to say it, and then it's like something else. So yeah, but I'm really proud of it.
Speaker 2:What is the story that it's going to tell?
Speaker 1:It's going to. I just feel like there's going to be a song on the album for everybody. I'm exploring so many different sounds but at the same time, it's going to be cohesive. It's going to have the African elements but also be a fresh new sound. You know, and yeah, I think it's going to be a good time. I worked with a lot of people like all over the world, so I just trust that it's going to be a universal project. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You want to give us names and who you've been working with.
Speaker 1:I've been working with Tricky Stewart, tyrone James P Prime is a producer out of Nigeria, irestar Lojay I'll just name that few. Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm a fan of Lojay.
Speaker 1:I'm new to.
Speaker 2:Afrobeat. So I know some of the names. I'm still learning. I know somebody who I just I'm obsessed with a Saqe's album. I love that project. Please, I'm like I'm not over there. I'm like, no, I got to know who this guy is. I can't wait to interview him one day, but it's cool to see, like our world's, like collab. Honestly, did you ever think that this would be a thing?
Speaker 1:Definitely it's about time. Like in Africa, we've been partying to this music alone for way too long, so I'm happy that now the rest of the world's like catching on.
Speaker 2:Right, how long has Ampeano been a thing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been. I just remember it being a huge thing when I was in like grade 10 high school grade 9, 10. So it's been around for years, but only recently it started traveling. Okay, it's literally been like our party music back home, wow. So it's like very, it's a very prideful moment for us.
Speaker 2:So what is like or who are some of the leaders in the Ampeano movement? I'm asking this because I genuinely want to know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's mainly the DJs that are running it at the point, like DJ Maporisa, mello and Sleazy a lot of the youth, okay, like they're running it. So yeah, that's a few names and artists. There's Kamun Pela, there's Chico, there's Papi Cooper.
Speaker 2:Like there's a lot of us, but with Mpeano there isn't. Like. It's not necessarily like in rap, it's like lyrics flow. They want to hear that and Ampeano is just about feeling, right Feeling.
Speaker 1:Feeling.
Speaker 2:It's all feeling that's pretty cool. Yeah, I'm new to it, like I said, so I'm just still learning and exploring. So I know you're from South Africa, but right now all the Nigerian artists are like running it up and going crazy. Have you collabed with any of them, like Tims Burnaboy, or Met or been in the studio with any of them? I was.
Speaker 1:I've been in the studio with WizKid, oh wow. And yeah, we have a cute son, so hopefully it comes out one day, but yeah, I've worked with him. I haven't met Berna or I met Tims. So, I'm sure there's going to be something happening there, we need the ladies collabing yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and she's got a Grammy, which is super, super dope. Yeah, crazy it's actually. I'm really shocked watching this in real time. It's cool to see how our culture is growing. But okay, so you taught me about Empiano. And then Pop Is Pop big over there. Like, do you guys listen to a lot of like Ariana Grande, harry Styles and stuff like that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not as big as it is like overseas, but it's big Like it's big everywhere. Pop music is in the shade everywhere, okay, okay.
Speaker 2:But primarily your dominant genre is.
Speaker 1:Empiano.
Speaker 2:Empiano. And then second is Hip Hop. Yeah, I would say Hip Hop. Is it really, or are you just giving?
Speaker 1:that to me. So I feel good. Hip Hop, no, no, no. We love American music, we love hip hop, we love pop. Okay, just on the piano, it's like our thing, you know. So it's running the streets.
Speaker 2:Is it like? Are you familiar with? Like a Jersey club music-ish? I know of it Like Uzi, I Wanna Rock. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like how that is like a Jersey thing? Is that what El Piano is? Like? South Africa, I guess, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, interesting, um, all right, sorry, I'm asking about your culture. I should really be asking more about you, it's fine, it's fine. So let me see. So you know what. I don't know how to get enough about you, so I have these questions. These are my getting to know people questions. Are you ready? I'm ready. You have to fill in the blank. Okay, I cannot believe I actually blinked when I was younger. Huh, like I cannot believe I did blink when I was younger. I did. Yeah, is there anything that you did when you were younger that you're like? I can't believe I did that.
Speaker 1:Once, when I was like five, I hid behind my parents' couch and I smoked my mother's cigarette Like I'm really joking In the house, in the house, I thought I was so sneaky. I thought I was so sneaky no, that's hilarious Like my parents don't know. I didn't tell my parents how they didn't smell that. I don't know, actually, but I just remember being behind that couch and taking a puff and that is hilarious.
Speaker 2:You're just nowhere. Your parents did not smell that. They probably just don't want to believe it, you know like in the now like she didn't. No, that is great, she wouldn't do that. The older I get, the less I blink.
Speaker 1:The older I get, the less I care about what people think.
Speaker 2:That's good. That's great. What is something that pushed you to be like you?
Speaker 1:know what I don't care at this point. I think over time I've learned that there's always going to be people that don't like you, that don't like what you do, so like there's really nothing you can do about it. So that's been something that's made me like.
Speaker 2:Not going to stop your hustle. Yeah, you know, my first, my first like viral interview. In the comments everybody was like, oh, you could tell she's having sex with him. It was just the fact that the whole world thought I was having sex with somebody because I was having a conversation on camera and I'm like, oh no, you people are idiots and I'm just going to do what I want at the end of the day, because you could think what you want, but it's my job. You know what I mean. Yeah, I get you and I know you get a lot of feedback for being pretty Like. People are like oh, you're just getting this because you're pretty. Are you over that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really don't care, Don't bother you. No, it doesn't bother me, god bless me and y'all man. Like.
Speaker 2:I don't mind, as you should, as you should. So sometimes I look back on my life in blank.
Speaker 1:And wish I did things differently.
Speaker 2:Like what.
Speaker 1:No, I'm in a great position. No, no, no obviously I am, but I mean, everybody has things they wish they did differently.
Speaker 2:Everybody has In regards to family, I guess.
Speaker 1:So like not specifically family, but I mean like personal life.
Speaker 2:Personal yeah, no, no, no regrets on dating, I don't.
Speaker 1:I don't really date, hey, okay, so Not yet.
Speaker 2:I'm sure I've seen things. I've seen things.
Speaker 1:What you saw.
Speaker 2:That you were dating. What you saw? You don't have a boyfriend. No, you don't got no boyfriend, really.
Speaker 1:You haven't seen none yet.
Speaker 2:Okay, Tell me what you saw Online. I saw you were holding hands with Rima or something. I saw that.
Speaker 1:Everybody, guys, everybody just thought like yo, guys, that was literally my first paparazzi experience.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm sorry, I'm online. I'm just, I'm getting my research from the internet. I know it's not like no, it's fine. It's fine Like I'm getting it from everybody. Now we're just friends.
Speaker 1:Like I went to a show Fire and he happened to hold my hand and bling and obviously people will interpret it the way they do. I mean, look, you're a beautiful girl.
Speaker 2:He's a lit guy. He's holding your hand. I'm not mad at it either way. If you guys were dating or not, yeah, but okay, so it's not your boyfriend.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Not your man. So she's still available. Okay, guys. So calm down. It's okay my personality trait, but would you guys date, are you? Yeah, you want us to date? Yeah, would you guys? You guys are in mad discussions, like when I Google you, that comes up and then while I read the comments, but people are really in favor of that.
Speaker 1:Nah, I don't know. I just see him as a friend. To be honest, you just want to live your life right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like as you should, I'm here for it. Okay, I'll leave you alone. My personality trait is blank, mmm.
Speaker 1:My personality trait is I don't know. I don't know how to explain it. I really don't know. What would you say? You're here every day. Yeah, you tell me, sean, you're hiding in the corners. But, based off our conversation, what would you say?
Speaker 2:You just seem chill and sweet. Okay, nah, I can't be. I just match you. I don't know.
Speaker 1:We can't do that. I'm very like unserious. Oh you're silly, yeah, like I don't take things seriously. I love that.
Speaker 2:Do you like dry humor? Depends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it depends. I like humor. That's like what the heck? Why did you say that?
Speaker 2:Oh inappropriate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe Just like. Why did you say that? Like it's like stupid things Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my type of people. I like that Silly. Your personality trait is silly. You agree with that. Yeah, she likes teasing people. Teasing people. Oh, you're exposing me now. I'm not a bully. He didn't agree with anything, he said. We said be a bully. He said yeah, yeah, I'm sure Nagna started all this game.
Speaker 1:Honestly, it seems unbelievable. Honestly, All right.
Speaker 2:I made a complete fool of myself when I blinked, when I Did you ever follow a stage?
Speaker 1:No, god forbid. Okay, I have not God forbid. Okay, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um Um. It's really that embarrassing, oh yeah, but I think. Yeah, I don't know. Okay, I don't know, I can't think of one now.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm not mad at it. An ideal world for you would be blink.
Speaker 1:An ideal world. It sounds like cliche, like a world piece. Like a world piece, but literally like a world where everybody is good, okay, everybody is like no one's hungry, no one's sad, like that would be like the perfect world. What about?
Speaker 2:like a personal one, personal yeah.
Speaker 1:For me, the ideal world would be where I'm living my dream, literally, where everything has come true that I dreamed of since I was younger.
Speaker 2:That would be like so what's next on your list of? Because you're already accomplishing. You know a lot of the things on your list from when you were a kid, so what's next on your list?
Speaker 1:I really want the album that are released to be very successful. Okay, I truly believe in it, so I'm just hoping everyone receives it the way I hope they do.
Speaker 2:Love that. And then, outside of music, is there anything, personally, that you want to accomplish?
Speaker 1:Mmm Like kids, family movies, like yeah, I want to get into it all. Yeah, like I want to get into acting modeling like brand deals, what, are some of your favorite, or at least American movies. Mmm, I love. What was it? What Like? Literally, I like horror and thrillers, no way the whole. I like the conjuring. What I hate those movies. I hate it Like I don't know why I can just binge watch things.
Speaker 2:Do you want to be in like horrors like that? Yeah, you know what? No, I'll have nightmares for you. I don't want to be in it. Yeah, did you watch that Wednesday on Netflix? No, I haven't. You haven't seen it. Is it good? That says like. That says like spooky as I can get, and it's really not even spooky. It's like the modern Adams family type of you can't do like horrors, nah. If I can, it has to be like during the daylight, where it suns out, and like the sun's still after.
Speaker 1:I finished the movie.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, I'm paranoid. I know I'm too grown to be acting like that, but that's just me. Okay, so you like horror films that you don't want to be in them. So what would be like your dream role?
Speaker 1:Like Disney, like fairy tale type movies.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, like I just see. Yeah, like Disney princesses or like fiction, Okay you know, I can actually see you in those scary movies that aren't actually scary, they're like all funny or like like paranormal yeah. We're just mad humor, but it's supposed to be funny.
Speaker 1:I feel like that would be right up your alley yeah, just something that's not serious, I would be Okay yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, all right, so you want to do movies. Do you see yourself having a family? You want a family, definitely.
Speaker 1:Like five kids. I want a big family. I love that, yeah, and do you?
Speaker 2:come from a big family. Yeah, I do, you do. Yeah, how many?
Speaker 1:siblings you have. Well, these five of us total. Oh, wow, yeah, my mother had us like one after the other, we like a year apart. Good for her. Yeah, she was just popping us out. That's a strong woman right there Shout out to her. Yeah, so like I just see how good it is for us as siblings, like we literally like best friends. Oh, I love that. So I would love that for, like my family, are you the youngest? Or the oldest, I'm the middle, you the middle, okay.
Speaker 2:Do you, do you? Um? They say like the middle child is the invisible child. You obviously don't feel like that. Right, You're the superstar. Yeah, I never felt like that, To be honest. Good, I was always demanding the attention.
Speaker 1:So I love that. That's funny. So I kind of want to know more about, like growing up in South Africa.
Speaker 2:Just because I've never been, I really want to go. I hear Joe Berg, though, is low key like like LA that's what someone said. Like sometimes nightlife, you walk outside and you'll feel like you're in LA.
Speaker 1:No, I never really felt that, okay, la feels more like Cape Town. Okay, cape Town is in South Africa as well. But it's like beachy, it's like more chill. Most people like tourist go there. Okay, for one of these, joe Berg is like the city, like New York, not as hectic. New York is hectic, okay, but it's like a city, okay Busy, like people are walking yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, and what is like? I guess I want to know, like, honestly, everybody over there speaks English.
Speaker 1:We have like nine languages, official languages, what? Yeah, so everyone speak, like most people speak English, but we have like nine languages. Okay.
Speaker 2:So are you guys like divided? Do you guys have districts? No, joe, we don't have districts. Paris has districts. I'm just asking, like, how is the language divided?
Speaker 1:It's not divided by like where you are, but like languages come from certain places, but everyone's everywhere Like.
Speaker 2:So you guys just have nine languages because you guys just have a lot of different tribes. That's true, yeah, but overall is there one like primary one that everybody speaks?
Speaker 1:Zulu is a very common one, but literally like these people, they speak online. Are you able to speak online? Yeah, no, I quite sadly.
Speaker 2:Okay, but is that common? Sorry, is it common for, like most people, to speak multiple or?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it is speak and understand multiple.
Speaker 2:I love that. Okay, I'm just trying to see what is South African life, so I would be like five girls there. What is it like? So? What school like over there is it like? We have K through fifth grade, then we have six through eight, which is middle school and then high school. You guys have the same setup.
Speaker 1:No, we have like preschool. Oh yeah, we got preschool and then we have primary school, okay, and that's like grade one to grade seven. Oh, wow. And then we have high school, from grade eight to grade twelve.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, yeah, interesting. Okay, and so you said your school doesn't have cheerleading. Is cheerleading not a thing over there?
Speaker 1:There are some schools that have it, but I went to like a public school, like there wasn't like cheerleading or anything, but there was like this other thing called drummies. I don't know if you know that Drummies, yeah, drummies you don't know that he is an addon or that he is. Like they drop sticks and there's long hats. Yeah, like you know what the people in the evening Like she dances with the stick.
Speaker 1:I think you know that hat, that the Buckingman Palace. Yes, yes, yes, it's similar to that hat. And then they throw sticks and all.
Speaker 2:Okay, interesting, they're right, I had to look into that.
Speaker 1:Never heard of it. Yeah, oh.
Speaker 2:What else did you guys have? Wrestling, or you got wrestling? No, not in school.
Speaker 1:I went to Wow, so what did?
Speaker 2:they offer.
Speaker 1:Like soccer rugby. Okay yeah, at least it's like a running. Okay yeah, we have that. We had like drama, like plays choir tennis. Alright, cool yeah.
Speaker 2:Tennis Okay, cool, it's so funny. Do you guys have lacrosse over there? Nope, lacrosse. Never seen lacrosse. Wow, I used to play lacrosse, that's so great. What's lacrosse Lacrosse is like-. You guys have field hockey Hockey yeah, okay, similar. So field hockey is like on the grass.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then lacrosse is similar to field hockey, but it's not like you keep your stick up and you cradle it instead of like-. I'll just have to show you a video. Yeah, I'll show you a video. That's so funny. Okay, so you never wanted to go to college, or were you thinking about doing college?
Speaker 1:It was never something I wanted to do, right right, if I did it it was because, like I had to, okay, yeah. So I almost went into like, studying mining engineering, which is like why, literally? But at the point I was like yo, if I'm not going to do my passion, I'm just going to chase that bag. And I know mining engineering, hey, you get money Absolutely.
Speaker 2:So I was like, yeah, but then eventually I was like nah, Did you try it out and you were just bored as hell. No like when I was you personality type I feel like you would just go mad.
Speaker 1:I would have definitely gone mad.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But like when I was finished school, I was telling my parents like what I couldn't tell them.
Speaker 2:I was like my parents like PDs cannot study, Were they strict on you about that, Because I know in America African parents yeah Same thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they wanted me to study Because, in their mind, if I didn't study, I'm going to be a pooh, I'm not going to have a job. But because I was a year younger than my school often like a lot of crying and begging they let me take like a year to do my music and that's the year everything happened.
Speaker 2:Wow so that's so good. I'm happy they let you do that. I'm sure they're happy they did too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're all very happy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's why, and that was during the pandemic yeah, so what was the pandemic like for you? That was like your all or nothing year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was so hard Because in my mind, this was my year. Like I got this year to do what I need to do and then now we stuck inside. Right, it was so hard, but like I pushed and it made me push even more, you know, creatively, yeah, yeah, I wanted it so bad. I still wanted it so bad.
Speaker 2:That's good. Yeah, I think you're going to be more than fine. Thank you, let me see, I don't have any other questions. Hmm, I don't think so. Did I miss anything? No, she touched on music personally.
Speaker 1:Hey, check you should.
Speaker 2:Did you see what picture it's in the pink? She's wearing pink. I watched like three videos back to back. This is thinking yeah, okay, yeah, I watched it. She just dropped her mind, okay. So I saw. You just dropped the music video for thinking. Been thinking Wait, that's not the record about the relationship. That's not going to work, right.
Speaker 1:No, it's about like I've been thinking about you.
Speaker 2:Hold on. No, I want to ask about the other record, because that one had me sad. I'm like, oh, it's a lost, the slower one, the slower one. Let me get this right. Oh, yeah, to last. So let's talk about to last, because it sounds like you were in your bag when you wrote that record, because it had me in my bag while listening to it. What was happening when you wrote that?
Speaker 1:So a lot of people think it was a personal experience. That's what it sounds like it does, but it was like a very close friend of mine at the time was going through something and opening up to me. So when I was making music we had like a like a writing camp Okay, and I was making music and it was around the same time where I was like helping my friend through her situation.
Speaker 1:And just when I heard the beats, like it just felt right at that moment and I just wrote as if I was in her shoes.
Speaker 2:Okay, You're not just saying this because you don't want us to know that. This is about you and somebody who you want to deny. No Like this is about, yeah, a real relationship that happened, but not you as a person.
Speaker 1:But it's still something I can relate to, because everybody has felt disposable before.
Speaker 2:And it's a terrible feeling. It is Very well written. You wrote it by yourself. Wow, you write all your things by yourself.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I collaborate with writers, but that song was very personal so it didn't feel right to work with anyone on that song yeah, very talented, I love that you produce also.
Speaker 2:I wish no, not there yet, I'm not putting it past you. You do a lot. You dance, you act, you sing. Have you ever tried rapping Low?
Speaker 1:key. Yeah, I'm not a rapper. Sometimes I just put you should be and I'm there, no way, but it's not good, but I feel like I can get through.
Speaker 2:You should really let us be the judge of that, because it really might be a secret talent in your arsenal. You never know, maybe but not right now.
Speaker 1:No, no, right now.
Speaker 2:It's cool when you hear, like Mary J Blige rap one. What's the 401?
Speaker 2:We don't want to hear Mary rap all the time. When she does give it to us, even Beyonce, when she gives it to us, it's cool, it's fun. But yeah, no, I'm not trying to convert you to a rapper, no, no, no, I'm just messing with you. But let's talk about your new music video that you dropped Think about it Just dropped a few days ago. Been thinking, been thinking I'm butchering that. No, it's okay, let's talk about been thinking it just dropped. Where were you at when you recorded that? I was in.
Speaker 1:LA last year, okay, and I was in Westlake Studios, the studio where Michael Jackson recorded most of his hits. I like it was so crazy being me, and I worked there with Tricky Stewart and Tyrone James, yeah. So we just made the song and the label heard it and was like we need to shoot a video, we're dropping it, wow. So then initially we were supposed to shoot it in LA and I was like, no ways, let's go home, let's go to South Africa. So not long after we flew back to South Africa and we had like two days to prep for this video, to learn the whole choreo, get dances and everything. Two days, yeah, like two, three days, oh wow. And we ended up recording, like shooting the video almost like 24 hours straight, straight, sheesh. It was like because we had like a time crunch, yeah.
Speaker 2:So do you do the? Do you come up with the choreo for the videos?
Speaker 1:No, I work with this choreographer in South Africa, Liché Okay, he's crazy and also Fatima. She's an American choreographer that also collaborated on it.
Speaker 2:Nice, super dope. I love that. 24 hours is nuts. That's a long ass day, it sounds like, but that's cool. And the looks. Who does the styling? Who does the styling?
Speaker 1:Well, this is Ami, but I work with my best friend. She's a stylist. Nice the Gemini yeah, she's a crazy stylist from South Africa.
Speaker 2:Wait, that's her name the Gemini.
Speaker 1:Yeah, her name, her name. Yeah, her name is Tato.
Speaker 2:But she goes by the Gemini. She's a Gemini. She's a Gemini Interesting. I like Gemini. They're very artsy, all right, cool. Well, I'm looking forward to everything you have going on. Thank you for stopping by and chopping it up with me. Please shout out to your Instagram, like everybody I know, where they can follow you and tap in.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for having me. Of course, my Instagram is at Tyler, so at Tyla, and then you can find the rest of my socials.
Speaker 2:Love it Until next time, guys. Bye, bye.