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Tyla Breaks Silence on Rihanna Comparisons

The Grammy winner is pleased by the classification but emphasizes she has her own spark.

Tyla wants you to know that she is not a carbon copy of Rihanna.

Since hitting the scene with her mega-hit "Water" in 2023, Tyla has skyrocketed up the charts. After her first Grammy win this year, she continues to dominate the scene while facing comparisons to the "Lift Me Up" pop star. She is honored to be in the same sentence as RiRi, but Tyla maintains she is not a baby Rihanna. While speaking to Cosmopolitan last week, she explained why.

“Rihanna is Rihanna. It’s a compliment,” she told the outlet. “But at the same time, I’m my own artist. I’m Tyla. And I know as people get to know me and my music, they will see me as just Tyla. So I’m fine with it now.”

“People want to tie me to something familiar to them, cool,” the South African singer continued. “But at the end of the day, we’re doing something no one’s done before, and it can’t really be compared to anyone.”

In February, Tyla made history by becoming the first person to win the New African Music Performance Category at the Grammys.

A month later, she released her debut album, "Tyla," which features her acclaim tracks "ART" and "Water." The latter climbed to no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January.

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