Multi-platinum, 2x Grammy-winning global superstar TYLA has officially made her grand return with the release of her highly anticipated sophomore studio album, APOP*, the follow-up to her historic debut that altered the history books and cemented her as one of the most dominant forces in music over the last two years. The 14-track project, available now, has been teased and coveted for well over a calendar year and sports bonafide hits including “CHANEL,” “IS IT,” “SHE DID IT AGAIN,” and “IS IT LOVE.” With *APOP, TYLA is set to halt the earth on its axis once again, proving that her globe-stopping debut campaign was only the beginning.
To commemorate the release of this landmark project, TYLA is staging a release-weekend takeover that underscores her status as a global phenomenon. On Friday, July 24, she will headline The Today Show’s Citi Summerstage in New York City, before flying to Chicago to headline the 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game halftime show on Saturday, July 25—making her the first international artist to headline the WNBA halftime show in its 28-year history. These appearances cap off a global rollout that has brought APOP* directly to fans around the world, including intimate fan listening experiences with YouTube in London, Atlanta, and New York, where fans got an exclusive first listen alongside TYLA herself. She also teamed up with Vevo for the Official Live Performance of “IS IT LOVE” released this week, with more performances from the series set to roll out soon. Beyond music, TYLA also unveiled her very own Bratz doll this week, marking another major cultural moment for the superstar.
Though the ripple effect of her groundbreaking debut album campaign was still creating waves throughout the industry—TYLA took home her second GRAMMY Award for “PUSH 2 START” earlier this year—she began formally teasing APOP* on this year’s GRAMMY red carpet, where she revealed to Rolling Stone that her efforts had started to galvanize. “I just knew that as I lived through the making of the album, it was going to fall into place, which it did,” she told the outlet after accepting her second award for Best African Music Performance. With the momentum of 2025’s release of “CHANEL” still white-hot, TYLA tapped Zara Larsson for “She Did It Again,” a single that became a global event, debuting on over seven global charts and earning TYLA her fourth Hot 100 chart hit. Vanity Fair said the duo created “herstory” with the record, while hundreds of thousands of TikTok creators dedicated themselves to emulating the vivacious energy TYLA and Zara conjured. As her next act, TYLA liberated “Is It Love,” a painstaking romantic ballad that shot to the top of the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats chart, earning her her fourth Afrobeats chart-topper—more than any artist since 2024. She formally announced the album’s tracklist last week on Instagram, where she etched each song of her 14-song tracklist in neon paint during an immersive reveal, the latest feather in the cap of a calculated and explosive rollout that began with the subtle announcement of the album’s title in the video for “CHANEL,” which has now been viewed over 140 million times.
As curiosity for APOP* grew, so did TYLA’s aura. Her third year at the MET Gala was met with widespread enthuse, following her scene-stealing appearances at the 2024 and 2025 ceremonies where she donned a nude Balmain dress that prompted VOGUE to call her a “fashion force” and a Barbie-inspired vintage Jacquemus gown that stole global headlines. This year, she reprised her role as star of the carpet with a peacock-inspired Valentino dress referred to as “bold” by Cosmopolitan—a common theme in TYLA’s career. She also performed several high-profile international engagements, including Portugal’s Afro Nation Festival and Romania’s Beach Please!, further solidifying her global reach. TYLA’s debut album campaign, which produced the standard and deluxe edition albums TYLA and TYLA+, launched a two-year period of dominance that saw her ability to elevate as an artist and celebrity while maintaining an intimate relationship with her avid fanbase of “Tygers”—a dynamic unique to superstars of her ilk. With APOP*, TYLA has set out to prove that she is here to stay. Stream *APOP today and witness the takeover.
Adreena is a writer from Nagano, Japan, but is now residing in Singapore. She mostly writes music news and reviews, but in her spare time, she likes writing fiction and poems.