The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2026 - Issue 39

bitemusicceleb I t was during her final year of high school that Tyla Laura Seethal decided to pursue a music career by sharing original songs and covers on Instagram, while seeking opportunities in the music in- dustry. Born in the East Rand of Johannesburg, the South African native of Indian, Zulu, Mauritian and Irish descent caught the atten- tion of director and photographer Garth von Glehn, who reached out in 2019 to manage her. At first, the aspiring singer ignored it as a scam until he arranged to meet with her parents. Since performing ‘How Much Is That Doggie in the Window’, orig- inally sung by Patti Page, at her school assembly, Tyla wanted to be a singer. “I was so small, but I loved it,” she told the BBC online in January 2024. “When I sang, my gran was screaming there in the crowd!” With von Glehn as her manager, Tyla started her initial recording sessions. “I ended up going to the studio every weekend in my last year of school. By the end of the year, I told my parents that I wanted to do this full time.” As expected, Tyla’s parents were not happy as they wanted their daughter to continue studying. She reluctantly enrolled on a min- ing engineering course at university. Still, she argued that Rihanna had come from Barbados and conquered the music industry in the United States, so why not her? After much persuasion and crying, her parents gave her a year to break into the industry. If she failed, she would have to go back to school. Several years later, Tyla is still “on her gap year”. In 2019, the singer coined a new genre called popiano, blending amapiano, pop, and R&B with elements of Afrobeats, when she re- leased her debut single ‘Getting Late’. “Amapiano really felt like me, being a South African girl,” she explained. “But I also love pop and R&B, so I wanted to mix that influence with sounds from home.” The independently released single was re-released by Epic Records in 2021, featuring Kooldrink. It became an instant hit in South Africa and went viral on social media.