Tyla Explains ‘Black Vs. Coloured’ After Awkward ‘Breakfast Club’ Q&A

Tyla is setting the record straight after curving a question from The Breakfast Club‘s Charlamagne Tha God regarding past remarks about her race.

The question stemmed from the South African beauty previously identifying herself as “coloured,” which is the norm for non-white, mixed-raced South African citizens. Some Black Americans, however, believed she was disassociating herself from her Blackness by doing so while embracing a term that is largely considered a slur in the states.

With all cultural context removed, Tyla found herself the center of debate surrounding African identities in various Black spaces, leading Charlamagne to inquire about the difference from her perspective. Instead of getting into the weeds, Tyla relied on her publicist to shut down the question and move on.

Hours after the awkward exchange was shared via YouTube and social media pages, Tyla took to Twitter to formerly address the issue, clarifying that she never denied her Blackness and breaking down the cultural differences in how South Africans identify compared to Americans.

“Never denied my Blackness, idk where that came from,” she began. “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.”

The “Jump” artist went on, “I don’t expect to be identified as Coloured outside of Southa by anyone not comfortable doing so because i under stand the weight of that word outside of SA, but to close this conversation, I’m both Coloured in South Africa and a black woman. As a woman for the culture. It’s and not or…with that said ASAMBEEE.” Check out the post below.