Grammy-winning star Tyla Seethal, who received four nominations for the 2024 Black Entertainment Television (BET) awards, will perform at the awards live on June 30 from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles.
The ceremony has been expanded to feature performances from rising stars such as Ice Spice and veteran musician Lauryn Hill, who will perform alongside YG Marley.
Country music sensation Tanner Adell, who most recently made an appearance on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and contributed the love-sick ballad‘Whisky Blues, will give a unique performance on the BET Amplified stage.
Another intriguing development highlighting the growing popularity of South African music is the inclusion of Tyla, Makhadzi, Focalistic, and Tyler ICU on the BET Awards nomination list this year.
On the international scene, Nicki Minaj trailed Drake by just six nominations, while Tyla received two nominations for Best R&B/pop Female Artist and one for Best New Artist.
Tyla, Focalistic, and Makhadzi are nominated for Best International Act; Tyler ICU and Tyla are up for Best New International Act; and Tyla’s Water is up for the Viewer’s Choice Award.
Beyoncé, Tyla, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, 21 Savage, and Usher share a tie for four nominations apiece, while SZA, J. Cole, Victoria Monét, and Sexyy Red are each eligible for five nominations.
Seethal has received praise for her consistency and representation of township culture with the release of her video with American celebrity Gunna and Jamaican DJ Skillibeng, Seethal, who gained international prominence.
This video, currently sitting on 12 million views on YouTube a few weeks after its release, has seen most of the ‘Water’ hitmaker’s fans speak fondly about her success.
This year has been quite eventful for Tyla, who started the year with a momentous experience after bagging a Grammy Award for the global hit Water followed by the release of her self-titled album Tyla and her Met Gala stellar appearance.
Her name recently gained attention after an interview with Charlamagne Tha God, co-host of the hip-hop iHeartRadio programme The Breakfast Club, where she was asked about her identity.
Despite shunning the conversation on air, Tyla later cleared the air, revealing that she never denied her blackness.
She explained that she is mixed with black/Zulu, Irish, Mauritian/Indian, and coloured, highlighting that in South Africa she would be classified as a coloured woman while in other places she would be classified as a black woman.
The Star
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za