Tyla’s Album Shoved From R&B Category to Now Compete in New Pop Categories at the Grammys

Tyla’s self-titled debut album, originally submitted for the R&B categories, has been reclassified to the pop categories by the Recording Academy’s R&B screening committee.

The Recording Academy’s R&B screening committee, composed of genre “experts” who are not Academy members, made the surprising decision to move Tyla’s album to the Best Pop Vocal Album category. This shift is unexpected, as the album is classified as amapiano, a fusion of R&B and South African sounds.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news, Tyla’s album would be better suited for the Progressive R&B category, rather than being pushed into the Best Pop Vocal Album category.

“Instead of being pushed to pop, her album should be competing in the best progressive R&B album category, a second R&B album award that was created to highlight R&B-based albums that also infuse other sounds and elements, from rap to dance to pop,” the outlet stated.

While Tyla’s album could fit better in a more expansive category, this move to Best Pop Vocal Album could hurt the South African pop star’s Grammy chances. The category will likely feature heavyweights like Ariana Grande’s eternal sunshine, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft. In such a star-studded lineup, Tyla’s self-titled debut risks being overshadowed.

However, Tyla is already a Grammy winner, having taken home Best African Music Performance for her breakthrough hit “Water,” which topped Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart. This makes the genre shift to pop even more stifling. Her self-titled debut was certified gold and widely praised by critics upon its release. 

Fans were critical of the decision to move the singer’s hit album to the pop fields.

What the grammys are trying to do with tyla is the exact nonsense they do to other poc artists every year. They know she is a strong contender for r&b Grammy so they put her in an almost impossible category which is pop.

— Mambo⁷ IS VERY HAPPY (@mambo_0ply) October 21, 2024

In other words, "we don't want Tyla to win a Grammy again, so we're putting her up against the big dawgs of Pop music because she's dominating R&B" https://t.co/hlgGQ93sIC

— K H O Z Y (@Sthabiso__) October 21, 2024

Grammy Nominations will be revealed on November 8.