Tyla Secures Second Grammy with Best African Music Performance Win for “Push 2 Start”

UPDATED
2026-02-02, 14:30 UTC

South African singer Tyla won the Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance for “Push 2 Start” at the 68th Grammy Awards, securing her second career Grammy in the category, according to official Recording Academy results and multiple media reports.

The award was presented on Sunday in Los Angeles during the Recording Academy’s annual ceremony. The Best African Music Performance category, introduced in 2024, recognizes excellence in African-rooted recordings released globally.

“Push 2 Start,” a track blending pop structures with African rhythmic elements, emerged from a competitive field that included artists from West, East, and Southern Africa, reflecting the category’s pan-continental scope, according to the Grammy nomination list released earlier this year.

Recording Academy announcements confirmed that the win marks Tyla’s second Grammy, following her earlier victory for “Water,” making her the first artist to claim the Best African Music Performance award more than once since the category’s creation.

In remarks carried by South African media after the ceremony, Tyla thanked African fans and collaborators, saying the award reflected “where African music is going globally.”

Music executives and broadcasters across Africa described the win as further evidence of African artists’ expanding visibility on major international award platforms, noting that nominees this year's nominees represented multiple regions of the continent.

The Best African Music Performance category was added as part of the Recording Academy’s efforts to broaden global representation. Since its launch, it has featured nominees from across Africa’s major music markets, including Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Tyla’s second win reinforces Southern Africa’s presence within the category and underscores the increasingly continental nature of African music recognition, where artists from different regions compete on a single global stage under a unified African classification.

For African creatives and music industries, the result highlights the continued integration of African music into mainstream international award systems, with recognition extending beyond regional genres to continent-wide representation.