Water isn’t amapiano either’ – OAP Do2dtun slams South African Tyla over VMA acceptance speech

Nigerian on-air personality Do2dtun has criticized South African singer Tyla following her acceptance speech at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), where she won the Best Afrobeats Award.

This follows Tyla’s speech, where she addressed the tendency to categorise all African artists under the Afrobeats label, despite the genre’s considerable global influence and success.

She said,

“This is just so special, but also bittersweet because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under Afrobeat[s]. It’s a thing, and even though Afrobeats has run things and has opened so many doors for us, African music is so diverse; it is more than just Afrobeats.

“I come from South Africa. I represent Amapiano. I represent my culture, and I just want to shout out to all the Afrobeats artists in this category with me.”

Do2dtun, reacting to her speech via his Instagram on Thursday, 12th of September, 2024, expressed displeasure with Tyla’s remarks, which emphasised the diversity of African music beyond Afrobeats.

The OAP called out the singer for what he perceived as a dismissive tone towards the genre while accepting an award meant to celebrate its global influence.

He wrote:

“Aunty @tyla aka am not Afrobeats, I am Amapiano. We have heard you, but your song “Water” isn’t amapiano either. If you thought you were categorized in a wrong category, you should have given the award back or denounced the nomination.

“You clearly took an award that didn’t represent you or your sound from that statement you made.

“Again, you see why you “ESAUS” need to rethink. You all sold our birthright for peanuts.

“Afrobeat is Afrobeat not Afrobeats hence the confusion…”

The OAP also addressed the matter on Twitter, now known as further criticising what he perceives as a misrepresentation of African music genres.

He wrote, “A few selfish ones renamed an established genre to satisfy their paymasters. Yet again you see why it’s best to let the originators be allowed to educate the world. Tyla winning Best Afrobeat song is a miss in my opinion but how do you say it isn’t when a few added “s” to it.”

“Afrobeats was a quickie set up to a quick paycheck. Now you see why most of your faves stop identifying with it. It was quickly fixed to fix an identity crisis just cos the paymasters think it had one when in actual fact it didn’t. Now they define it how a few sold it to them,” he wrote in another post. [CONTINUE READING HERE]>>>>