Tyla Delivers Sultry Rendition Of “Jump” At 2024 BET Awards Performance
Tyla dedicated her 2024 BET Best New Artist award to Africa, insisting she wanted to put on for her home continent. And her rendition of “Jump” for the award show did exactly that.
The performance kicked off with Skillibeng offering a verse with several male dancers grooving around him in minimal lighting. After the lights turned on, Tyla suddenly dropped from the ceiling on a rope contraption and into a cage before singing her famous line, “They never seen a pretty girl from Joburg, they see me now, and it’s what they prefer.” The camera panned out and featured a shot of a couple of dancers dressed up as a tiger sprawled about the cage, with Tyla freeing herself from the structure and prowling around the stage.
As the chorus arrived, the “Queen of Popiano” skipped and hopped to center stage, where she joined her background dancers, who wore beige and orange costumes that matched the heavy African aesthetic decorating the stage.
Gunna followed suit, performing his verse in front of a prop elephant with a ladder along its side. Tyla walked over to the Atlanta rapper and began hitting her “Water” dance to the beat of the sultry afrobeat number as the lights flickered orange and purple hues.
That night, Tyla won two awards, securing her accolades in the Best International Artist and Best New Artist categories. Her category nominations included Best Female R&B/Pop Artist. Prior to her BET moment, the international artist secured her first Grammy award in February for her hit single, “Water.”
In an interview with People, the singer spoke about the “surreal” moment, saying, “Hearing my name, being able to get on that stage and say a whole speech was crazy, especially considering my age and how early I am in my career. I didn’t expect that honestly, but I’m just so grateful that it happened. It’s history. It’s such a big moment for home. I couldn’t be happier, really.”
Watch Tyla’s 2024 BET Awards performance above.
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