It’s fitting that singer/songwriter Tyla Yaweh is signed to Epic Records. At just 24, his career has had an epic rise, showing no signs of slowing down. The prolific Yaweh has catapulted to fame off of such hits as “She Bad,” “Gemini,” “Wildlife,” and “Salute” from his debut album Heart Full of Rage. His relentless optimism and vibrant performances have garnered millions of streams, and his sojourn on Post Malone’s Runaway Tour in 2019 has the Florida-born wordsmith performing to sold-out arena crowds across the globe. 

The Runaway Tour, also starring Swae Lee, is Thursday, October 24, at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. 

Born Tyler Jamal Brown in Orlando, Florida, Yaweh is now based in Los Angeles. He took the time to chat via phone about touring with Malone, his home state, making music videos, The Doors and even reasons why he doesn’t like social media. 

He said he feels very blessed with his success and the opportunities he’s been afforded. The hard work is paying off. He’s also welcoming the opportunity to spread hopeful messages.  

“Every single day, trying to spread that energy back to the other people so they can do the same thing,” Yaweh said. “I feel like I gotta be the spokesperson for our generation, because there’s not a lot leaders, just a bunch of followers.”

He’s making a strong case for becoming one of music’s next brightest stars. At its release, Heart Full of Rage nabbed over 86 million global streams. The lead single “High Right Now” has reached well over 35 million streams, and its companion video is just one example of the fashion conscious artist, who takes a no-fear approach to creativity. 

“I really wanted to float, like a dream that you can’t get out of, they had to figure out how they could get me to float,” Yaweh said, about the video’s plotline. “It was such a fun experience shooting that video. We filmed it in a 500 year-old cemetery and a morgue. It was kinda scary, but it was cool.”

One of the video’s co-stars, a boa constrictor, slithered its way across Yaweh’s chest. 

“I love snakes!” he said. “I like animals. I had (a snake), but we lost it. It escaped. We never found it. It was a ball python, so I never bought another one after that…animals are cool though, I like animals a lot. I just grew up with it, a family that went fishing, we went hunting, we just used to figure out things to do in the wildlife.”

The subject matter in Yaweh’s songs, such as “High Right Now”, has several references to cocaine. He switches up singing and rapping. His voice comes across as lethargic-melodic. It’s a trippy, captivating sound. The rhythm is undeniable and the chorus tattoos itself to the listener: Girl, I’m so high right now, I don’t think that I’ll ever come down, ‘Cause this feels better to me, Than anybody reality, I’m floating in the air like I’m weightless, Flying on a cocaine spaceship, Girl, I’m so high right now, I don’t think that I’ll ever come down. 

In the more pop-sounding, slower beat “She Bad” Yaweh sings the catchy lyrics: She told me that she really good at dancing like Michael Jackson, She bad, she bad, she bad…” and in the song “Gemini” his words “She go side to side, like a Gemini, Show up to my show, she don’t stand in line, Always stayin’ high, that’s my Gemini, Gemini” are instant earworms.

His newest single “I Think I Love Her” (with YG) is a burst of spunk: Oh, she walking like a lick when she wobble it, Think I love that bitch when she really poppin’ it, Oh, I’m walking with a stick like I’m moppin’ it, Two toned on the tick, ain’t no toppin’ it,” and “Understand Me” is also distinctively different in tone. Both further examples of Yaweh’s determination to not be boxed into one sound. 

That mindset stems from his Florida roots. 

“It made me the realest person that I am,” he said, about Florida. “The struggle, the pain, to see things, I’ve done a lot of things that I didn’t want to do, but I had to survive. It gave me that leap to go to L.A., and not be scared of nothin’, not fear nothin.’ Invicinble. That’s what it feels like.”

Songs like “Salute”, recorded with French Montana, are not necessarily written down in advance. Yaweh said all of the hard work comes together in the studio. 

“A lot of the stuff, while we’re in the studio, we write it right away,” he said. “A lot of music is created in that moment.”

During downtime on The Runaway Tour, he said he can often be found exploring, shopping, playing beer pong with Post Malone, “hanging out with beautiful women” or might be getting another tattoo. He has many tattoos, including angel wings on his chest and like Post Malone, some ink on his face. He also a tribute to Jim Morrison, the subject matter of his favorite movie, The Doors. His favorite song by the Lizard King’s band includes “Riders of the Storm”. 

Fans might already know that about him. Yaweh is very open on his Instagram. He has over 285 thousand followers. Still, he’s disappointed that social media has the next generation so tied to their phones, and not enjoying the outdoors, among other things. 

“It’s the real me at all time,” he said. “I don’t sit and bottle things up.”

He said he remembers that during struggles, or even when he’s grumpy, he remembers what one family member instilled to him: to smile. 

“It takes a greater number of muscles to frown, and only one muscle to smile,” he said. 

What’s next then for Yaweh?

“To keep working. Becoming a household name,” he said. “I can’t wait to do my own arena tours and by next year I should be doing that, if I keep moving fast enough and being nonstop, and dropping new stuff. And making sure Epic Records stays alive for the next one hundred years.”