South African pop sensation Tyla is setting the record straight about her identity, tackling a heated debate sparked by a 2020 TikTok video in which she referred to herself as “colored.”
In the resurfaced clip, the Grammy-winning artist refers to herself as “Coloured.” The online community, especially within the Black community, erupted with reactions, claiming that referring to race using the term “colored” is no longer acceptable and is offensive.
In the U.S., the term “Coloured” has been historically linked to segregationist policies and racial offenses in America.
Now, in a candid interview with British Vogue, Tyla is setting the record straight and championing the complexity of her heritage.
According to the Water singer, the word carries a starkly different significance in South Africa. Under apartheid, “Coloured” was an official classification for mixed-race communities, distinct from “Black” or “White” groups. It remains a widely embraced cultural identity for millions, reflecting a blend of Indigenous African, Asian, European, and Khoisan ancestry.
Similar to the United States, South Africa has a long history of racism. During the apartheid era, the Population Registration Act of 1950 mandated that individuals in the country classify themselves as either white, native, or colored.
When Tyla used that term, some viewers interpreted it as her suggesting she was superior to those who identify as Black, but that was not her intention.
She recalled having “no control” over the situation at the time.
“It just went so far that I didn’t know what to do. The way people painted me… And I understand that word is a sensitive word to people, so I don’t blame people for being touché about it. I just would have wanted an opportunity for people to actually truly listen and learn,” Tyla told British Vogue.
Tyla commented on the previously mentioned history, expressing that it puzzled her. Yet, it was her only understanding while growing up in South Africa.
“It was bad for a lot of us. They just classified us. And that just so happens to be the name that the white people called us,” she explained. “They chose to call people that were mixed ‘colored ‘. And I’m not gonna lie, it was hard because all my life, obviously I knew ‘I’m Black’ but also knew that ‘I’m colored. ‘ So when I went to America, people were like, ‘You can’t say that!’ I was in a position where I was like, ‘Oh, so what do I do? What am I then?'”
In the interview, Tyla tackled the subject head-on, revealing she chose not to discuss it during her June 2024 appearance on The Breakfast Club. “I didn’t want to explain my culture and something that is really important to me on a platform that is just going to be purposefully misconstrued,” she recalled to the British media outlet.
“I’ve explained it a lot of times before, but people took that and put words in my mouth. They said a whole bunch of things that I never said and ran with it.”
