Tyla has bagged the Best Afrobeats award at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) held on Wednesday, September 11. The South African music star is steadily filling up her award shelf with international plaques. The singer has fully secured a Grammy, BET and Billboard award.
Last night, Tyla had a bitter sweet moment following her VMA win. The ‘Water’ hitmaker took the liberty to school the audience about how diverse African music is. She said:
“This is such a big moment for Africa (and) African music, this is just so special, but also bittersweet because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under Afrobeat(s). It’s a thing, and even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse, it is more than just Afrobeats.
That’s not the only thing that got people talking. Tyla’s award was presented by Halle Bailey and Lil Nas X. Before Tyla gave her acceptance speech, she playfully joked about how heavy her VMA was and asked if any of the presenters could help her out. Halle Bailey made no attempt while Lil Nas X was the one to give Tyla a helping hand.
This move sparked numerous reactions on social media. Some fans laughed at Halle Bailey’s hesitance while others felt Tyla was being disrespectful.
Tyla has come out to debunk any animosity between Halle Bailey and herself. She said:
“Y’all make everything weird… I was not asking my girl Halle… We just girls , STFU I WON A VMAAAA”
