HYBE Establishes Joint Venture NFO to Manage Global Activities of Pop Star Tyla

Tayla. Provided by HYBE

HYBE announced on December 16 that it has established a new joint venture, NFO LLC, and will be taking on the global management of pop star Tyla.

Tyla is a singer-songwriter from South Africa, born in 2002, who won the 'Best African Music Performance' category at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Her 2023 single "Water" reached No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Her full-length album "TYLA," released in March 2024, debuted at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the same year. She has gained popularity with a musical style that blends Afrobeats, Amapiano, pop, and R&B, and her cumulative streams on Spotify have surpassed 3 billion.

HYBE will provide integrated support for all aspects of Tyla's activities, including global management, touring, marketing, and promotion. The company also plans to collaborate in areas such as recording, publishing, brand partnerships, and merchandising, while building a system for discovering and nurturing emerging artists from Africa.

To this end, HYBE established the joint venture NFO LLC together with African music industry veterans Brandon Hixon and Colin Gayle. Both will participate in the joint venture’s business operations alongside Jen McDaniels, head of HYBE America Management.

HYBE CEO Lee Jaesang stated, "This partnership marks an important milestone in HYBE’s global expansion strategy," adding, "We will establish a foundation for African artists to remain continuously connected with the global market."

HYBE is expanding its presence in the global market based on its K-pop production system. Through HYBE America and Geffen Records, the company launched the girl group Katseye, while in Japan it debuted &TEAM and Aon, and in Latin America, Santos Bravos.