Tyla says she is finished repeatedly explaining how racial identity and terminology change across countries.
While promoting her second album, A*POP, the South African singer addressed the recurring debate over her use of “Coloured,” an established identity in her home country that carries a sharply different history from the similar term in the United States.
“Everywhere you go it means something else,” Tyla told The Times. “It’s just a conversation that’s never ending. I’m off that train.”
The 24-year-old has previously said she identifies as both a Black woman and a Coloured South African. Her latest answer follows several years of interviews and social-media statements responding to claims that her South African identity represented a rejection of her Blackness.
A 2020 TikTok Brought the South African Term to a Global Audience
@hernametyla #celebratemzansi let’s see you guys join the challenge💕 #african #heritageday #heritagemonth #africa ♬ Pata Pata – Miriam Makeba
The international debate developed after Tyla’s 2020 TikTok resurfaced during the success of “Water” in 2023. In the video, she called herself “a proud Coloured South African woman” and said the identity reflected her connection to multiple cultures.
Tyla has described her heritage as Black and Zulu, Irish, Mauritian and Indian. “Coloured” is used by many South Africans as a distinct cultural and racial identity connected to mixed ancestry, although it was also codified as a racial classification under apartheid.
In the United States, the similar word “colored” has a different history and is widely regarded as outdated and offensive. Some American viewers therefore interpreted Tyla’s wording through a U.S. racial framework and accused her of distancing herself from Blackness.
Tyla has consistently denied that interpretation. She told British Vogue that she understood why the word was sensitive outside South Africa but wished more people had listened to the cultural explanation before assigning beliefs to her.
Her Breakfast Club Interview Revived the Debate
The subject returned during Tyla’s June 2024 appearance on The Breakfast Club. When Charlamagne Tha God asked her to explain what it meant to be Coloured in South Africa, a member of Tyla’s team requested that the interview move to another question.
After the exchange circulated online, Tyla released a statement saying she had “never denied” her Blackness. She explained that racial categories differ internationally and that she would be classified as Coloured in South Africa but Black in other parts of the world. “I’m both Coloured in South Africa and a Black woman,” she wrote.
She revisited the subject in her 2025 British Vogue cover interview, saying she understood herself as both identities rather than choosing one over the other. “I know I’m a Black woman and I know I’m a coloured woman as well and you can be both,” she said. By then, Tyla said she had accepted that even a detailed explanation would not convince everyone.
The Comments Arrive With Tyla’s Second Album
A*POP IS JULY 24TH 🪶⭐️
Get your paws on it nyowwww🐾— Tyla (@Tyllaaaaaaa)
April 22, 2026
Tyla’s latest comments came during the rollout for A*POP, her follow-up to the self-titled debut album that arrived in 2024. The album continues her combination of pop, R&B and South African amapiano, a sound she has called “popiano.”
Tyla has framed the project as part of her effort to position African music inside global pop rather than treating it as a separate category. Her official store describes A*POP as a 14-track album featuring “IS IT,” “CHANEL” and “SHE DID IT AGAIN,” her collaboration with Zara Larsson. The album was released through FAX Records and Epic Records on July 24, 2026.