Tyla’s ‘A*POP’ Arrives Tonight, Marking a Shift in Sound and Persona

Tyla’s second album, A*POP, is out tonight, arriving less than a year after the deluxe edition of her self-titled debut. The South African singer’s rise has been swift—fueled by a blend of amapiano, R&B, and pop that defined her early breakthrough—but the new record signals a deliberate pivot.

In recent interviews, Tyla described feeling distant from the person who made her debut. “I feel so different,” she told Rolling Stone, attributing the change to personal growth. “I feel like a woman.” That shift surfaces in the album’s construction: she told Sowetan Magazine the songwriting process was “effortless and almost like a diary entry,” shaped by club music from cities she visited and songs she rediscovered at karaoke bars.

The tracklist includes a feature from Zara Larsson on “She Did It Again,” while early listening parties in London drew sharply positive reactions. Tyla has been building momentum in public, too—performing with Shakira at a New York show and appearing casually on the London Underground.

Where the debut introduced a polished, global-facing sound, A*POP leans into instinct and motion. The 14 tracks don’t read like a calculated follow-up; they read like an artist processing experience in real time.