'Tychella fever” broke out when South African singer Tyla made her debut at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, on Friday.
Set in the Colorado Desert, the festival is set to feature 144 artists, including Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, Green Day, Post Malone, Missy Elliott, Lisa and Jennie of Blackpink, Ed Sheeran and Megan Thee Stallion. Held over two weekends, April 11-13 and April 18-20, it has an audience of 125,000, not counting the millions who will watch it online.
Performing in 39°C conditions, Tyla created her own heat in a nude textured bra with a white cotton mini-twist bralet, a red patterned belt, bikini bottoms with a fringe by Dolce & Gabbana, along with black fishnet stockings with large holes and animal-print open-toed lace-up high-heel bootees.
The 23-year-old amapiano artist belted out hits at the sold-out performance, including Water and Push 2 Start. She also brought out a surprise guest, US-Spanish singer Becky G, to join her on stage for the song On My Body.
You guys are giving me so much energy, so I wanna give it back
— Tyla on stage at Coachella
The Joburg-born Grammy Award-winning singer brought her troupe of dancers from South Africa, as well as her siblings, to experience the festival first-hand. After her performance, she plans to take time to enjoy some of the other artists with her family by her side.
“Guys, if you all didn’t know, this is my first time at Coachella ever,” Tyla said on stage to screams and cheers from the audience — including some with South African flags — who had paid more than R20,000 to see the performance.
“I’m just really excited to be here. You guys are giving me so much energy, so I wanna give it back. But I wanna ask, ‘Who is here with their number one? Whose number one is themselves?’” she said, before launching into her hit song No 1.
Tyla then ran through the audience, taking selfies with fans and spray-painting her name in neon green on a huge onstage travelling tiger — a visual tribute to her fans, affectionately known as “tygers”.
In addition to Tyla representing Mzansi, Rema, Seun Kuti, Amaarae, Shaboozey, Egypt 80, and DJ Amémé will also showcase talent from the African continent.
This week Tyla launched a partnership with Pandora jewellery. She also unveiled a cover shoot she did with Nylon magazine and spoke about a new album, hinting that a rap song would be included on it.
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