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Tyla’s 2024 appearance on The Breakfast Club sparked a viral moment that many fans felt did more harm than good. Now, months later, Charlamagne tha God is offering his side of the story.
If fans can recall, Tyla was asked to explain what it meant to be a “Coloured person” in South Africa. The question led to a tense silence before her publicist stepped in and shut it down, sparking backlash and debate online.
In an interview with DJ Vlad, Charlamagne responded to the criticism, denying any responsibility for the fallout. “I didn’t ruin her career,” he said. “If anybody hurt Tyla, it was her label.”
He claimed her team had arrived with a list of banned topics and had failed to thoroughly prepare her. “I gave her the opportunity to answer. “I didn’t attack her,” he said, adding that the label only made things worse by interrupting mid-interview. He also pointed to their lack of promotion as a reason Tyla’s EP WWP failed to chart on Billboard.
Tyla later addressed the situation on social media, writing, “Never denied my Blackness,” and explained that in South Africa, she was identified as "Coloured", a term with a unique cultural context, even though she understood she might be seen as Black elsewhere.
Earlier in the year, she also revealed she had felt pressured by her label to create “bubblegum pop” early in her career. After experiencing a breakdown, she pushed to return to her roots and focus on African-inspired music. “It made me more persistent in keeping my ideas,” she shared.