“I’m Both Coloured in South Africa and a Black Woman”: Tyla Shuts Down Race Debates With a Response
International star girl Tyla appeared on The Breakfast Club for an interview on the 13th of June 2024, helmed by Charlamagne tha God, Jess, and DJ Envy. During the interview, the inflammatory topic of Tyla’s racial identity and ethnicity reared its head once more, causing online scuffles among netizens.
Charlamagne, notorious for his polarizing approach when it comes to interviews, asked Tyla about what it means for the singer-songwriter to identify herself as a coloured in context of her being South African.
“School me on these debates that they be having about your identity as a South African coloured person. What does that even mean?” Charlamagne asked.
Met with the awkward question, Tyla skirted the discussion by throwing a quick look over her shoulder to her team, who advised that the question be passed. Charlamagne laughed the response off, saying, “We’re keeping that in the interview, too.”
Watch the interview here:
The moment sparked a wildfire of backlash, particularly from the Afro-American community, who felt that Tyla passing up the question was a teachable moment on racial identity politics. On the other hand, South Africans came to Tyla’s defence, reiterating the singer’s stand as a coloured whilst also acknowledging that even though the term “coloured” was offensive within the American space, in South Africa, it was and always will be an integral part of culture to those who identified as such.
Tyla took to X following the storm in the teacup, clarifying that she “never denied my blackness”, while also giving a comprehensive explanation of what being coloured meant to her as well as her identity.
“Yho, guys. Never denied my blackness, idk where that came from… I’m mixed with black/Zulu, Irish, Mauritanian/Indian and Coloured, In Southa I would be classified as a Coloured woman and other places I would classified as a black woman. Race is classified differently in different parts of the world. I don’t expect to be classified as Coloured outside of Southa by anyone not comfortable in doing so because I understand the weight of the word outside of SA. But to close this conversation, I’m both Coloured in South Africa and a black woman,” she said on the screenshot posted on her X account.