Ayra Starr gave us the raw energy of a pop star with roots deep in the soil in 2021 when she was introduced to our ears with “Away”. Tyla brought flare and a smoothness that made the world pay attention to the pulse of South Africa with her captivating breakout single “Water” in 2023.
Navio as he brewed his 2022 studio album Vibes Out The East tapped Tyra Chantey for track number 12 on the project. It was here that majority of us got introduced to the young music creator. She also made a brief appearance at Jameson and Friends in 2024 at Garden City.
Like how people easily mix up Nevia and Nivea or TLC the television manufacturer and TLC the TV channel, when many hear Tyra Chantey of the “Water” collaboration with Navio, they end up confusing her with the South African Grammy Award winning, famed for the hit song “Water”. For the fact that they have almost similar artist names, and a same-name song as well as body physique and look/ aesthetic.
This is partly is the inspiration for this writeup, to tell Tyra Chantey’s artistic story, her aspirations, and all that. To start with, if you have been looking for a vocalist with a global sound and career outlook, your search is over, behold I introduce to you Tyra Chantey; the artist you have been looking and waiting for.
Hailing from Sweden, the young pop star, just like Deena and Max Noir holds foreign credentials in one hand, and in the other smooth Ugandan rhythms. Born and raised in between the suburbs of Stockholm, the singer-songwriter’s parents ensured Uganda was a lived experience shared with her sister.
While speaking in an interview recently, Tyra Chantey noted: “I’m a quarter Swedish, the rest is Ugandan, and I feel a very strong need to connect to my African audience.” Holidays often meant time with her jjajja (grand parent), aunties, uncles, and cousins in Uganda while learning the food, the weddings, the energy, and the way community moves. And she can easily rattle off her comfort order without hesitation: matoke with peanut sauce, with chicken or beef stew on the side.
The two-world upbringing planted a deep root in her, paving way for her love for music, dance, and performing; finding great inspiration in the artists she grew up listening to; Brandy, Beyonce, and The Spice Girls. Among the singers who’s music soundtracked her childhood a great deal was Destiny’s Child, Boyz II Men and Britney Spears, thanks to her father.
Tyra’s first real lesson in stage presence came from closer to home; from her father Ken Daniels Kayongo. He was a member of Swahili Nation; a Sweden based group that defined the late 90s with their iconic sound that mixed Kiswahili lyrics with R&B and hip hop sounds, producing game changing records like “Hakuna Matata” (aka Mpenzi) that were not only ahead of their time but also influenced the generations to come, musically.
“The earliest memory I have of really getting like starstruck was seeing my own dad perform, because he used to be part of Swahili Nation,” she revealed.
“He took me and my sister on the road with him… and we also got to see him on stage performing,” Chantey says of her dad. “[The group] had this way of blending their African culture, their East African culture, with pop music and R&B, which is similar to what I do.”, she recalls.
Her father’s influence can be heard in her music. Chantey’s royalty-free 2021 debut release “Sweet Talk” marries all these elements and is tagged probably her most popular song to date. On the more recent “Confidence,” her vocals slide over an Afro-fusion production while she sings in Kiswahili.
Her newer single “Nobody” leans even more into her R&B softness, with a playful, half-sung cadence that flirts with rap-singing without losing the emotional center. As she puts it, “My sound is really driven by my voice.”
Starting her journey at 12 years old, Chantey recorded a song “Shooting Star”. Around her hometown, it spread through like a wild fire, the type of track that, in her words, “everyone had… on their phone”, as Tyra describes it. It was around this time that her father pushed back, not because he didn’t believe in her but because he understood the cost of the industry, especially for an artist navigating more than one culture at once. This pushed her to exploring somewhere, as she revealed. “So I went into a gospel choir and found my voice through the community,” she recounts, as it was around this time that she joined the renowned Tensta Gospel Choir before moving to Los Angeles at 19 to study music and sharpen her craft.
Tyra recalls encountering challenges on her path, among which was a sour 360 record deal. 2024 saw her leaving the U.S to return to Sweden while contemplating quitting music. Tyra instead embarked on a journey of reconstructing and rebuilding her career from scratch, dropping music independently and doing the unglamorous work behind the scenes to make sure she controls her career vision.
Tyra revealed plans of releasing a full length project this year, for she has lots of music stacked up on hard drives, some that fans may be familiar with and those that are new. “This year, I’m going to release my first full-length project,” she says. “Having very little music out feels like having a book where no one gets to ever open it. They just read the cover and the title. And I know what’s in the book, and I just want to show people.”
She gave a tease of this large volume of music with a single “Nobody.”. Now with a hands-on approach, Tyra Chantey is preparing to go all out again. This time, it is with discernment and wisdom. It’s about building the world herself, despite the obstacles: “I’ve always done me regardless, though. I live with that crippling fear, and then I do it anyway. I have this crazy ambition and drive, and there’s nobody who’s going to get in the way of that, like ever.”, she noted.