Cape Town – Grammy award-winning singer, Tyla, has spoken up about the recent race controversy surrounding her.
During her recent Breakfast Club interview with hosts Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy, the singer was probed about her racial identity as a coloured woman from South Africa, to which her management asked that she not touch on the topic.
After sky-rocketing up the trends list on X, Tyla finally addressed the issue and shared her stance, in a post that has since garnered 91k likes and 2.2k comments.
“Never denied my blackness, idk (I don’t know) where that came from. I’m mixed with black/Zulu, Irish, Mauritian/Indian and coloured. In ‘Southa’ I would be classified as a coloured woman and other places I would be classified as a black woman. Race is classified differently in different parts of the world,” she posted.
She added: “I don’t expect to be identified as coloured outside ‘Southa’ by anyone not comfortable doing so because I understand the weight of that word outside SA. To close this conversation, I’m both coloured in South Africa and a black woman. With that being said Asambeee.”
— Tyla (@Tyllaaaaaaa) June 13, 2024
Many weighed in with their thoughts on the incident, under her post.
Here’s what some had to say:
“You don’t need to explain yourself tyla, these people just need to educate themselves”
“No Tyla you are not black!!!!!! You are everything else but not BLACK you are Coloured”
“It’s okay to say you’re coloured/mixed. Don’t let uneducated people who uphold the one drop rule bully you into changing your stance. You’re mixed/coloured and that’s okay ”
“It’s just a cultural disconnect. Different verbiage in different regions leads to an uproar. But I’m sure people will be happy you clarified how you identify”
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Picture: X/@for_tyla
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Compiled by Lauren Petersen
