The 23-year-old star is standing firm on who she is. “You know that even if you give the best explanation, people will still choose not to understand,” Tyla opened up to British Vogue. “But I’m at a point where I know who I am. I know I’m a Black woman and I know I’m a Coloured woman as well and you can be both. And the people that care to learn, they understand now. And that’s enough for me.”
Tyla’s been dealing with questions about her identity since before she hit it big. Back in 2020, she dropped a TikTok where she called herself a “Coloured South African,” explaining she “comes from a lot of different cultures.”
Her use of “Coloured” got people talking, especially in America where it’s considered offensive. But in South Africa, it’s actually a recognized identity group.
This came up again when she hit The Breakfast Club last June. Charlamagne tha God asked her to break down what being a “South African Coloured person” means.
While she didn’t get into it during the show, she later jumped on X to clear things up: “Never denied my Blackness, idk where that came from,” she posted. “I’m mixed with Black/Zulu, Irish, Mauritian/Indian, and “Coloured.”
She explained that in South Africa, she’s known as a “Coloured woman,” while elsewhere she’s seen as Black. “I don’t expect to be identified as Coloured outside of Southa by anyone not comfortable doing so because I understand the weight of that word outside of SA. But close to this conversation, I’m both Coloured in South Africa and a Black [woman].”
