Since her global explosion, Tyla has mostly operated in the realm of kinetic, undeniable rhythm.
She makes music that moves you physically before your brain even registers the lyrics. But with “Is It Love,” released as the latest pre-release single ahead of her sophomore album APOP*, she shifts the gravity.
“Is it love if you don’t cry, cry, cry?”
It is a sharp demand for vulnerability wrapped inside a dance-driven song. By layering dance production with pop, Afrobeats and R&B textures, the track feels personal without losing the bounce that made Tyla a global force.
It is not only about dominating the dance floor anymore.
It is about asking whether emotional intensity actually means anything if the other person refuses to show up fully.
If tracks like “She Did It Again” and “Chanel” showed us the scale of the APOP* campaign, “Is It Love” reveals more of its emotional centre.
Tyla is proving that she can hold the weight of a full-length pop era without sacrificing movement. She does not have to choose between vulnerability and rhythm.
She can make the club feel like a confession.
Story index Key points, people & topics
Key points & topics
- With “Is It Love,” Tyla brings vulnerability into the centre of her A*POP era, proving that she can make the club feel like a confession without losing the rhythm that made her global.
- Tyla’s “Is It Love” shifts the emotional centre of the A*POP campaign, showing that her global pop era is not only about movement, fashion and scale. It is also about vulnerability.
- Since her global explosion, Tyla has mostly operated in the realm of kinetic, undeniable rhythm.
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Filed by Viranova Music Desk for the Music desk · South Africa / Global. Published 20 Jun 2026.

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