Culture

South African singer Tyla clears air on race controversy, accepts being a black woman

Published

5 months ago

June 18, 2024

Grammy award-winning South African singer, Tyla, has cleared the air on a recent controversy surrounding her race as being either a coloured or a black woman.

The “Water” crooner, who made the clarification during an appearance on New York City’s Power 105.1 radio morning show, “The Breakfast Club”, hosted by controversial hosts, Charlamagne Tha God, DJ Envy, and Jess Hilarious, accepted that she was truly a black woman rather than coloured.

During the interview, the hosts probed the singer about her racial identity as a coloured woman from South Africa, to which her management asked that she not touch on the topic.

During the last leg of the conversation which mostly focused on her global crossover and musical growth, Charlamagne switched gears abruptly from discussing Tyla’s work-life balance to her identity.

“School me on these debates that they be having about your identity as a South African Coloured person. What does that even mean?”

“I have never denied my blackness, I don’t know where that came from. 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,” Tyla was quoted as saying.

Writing on her X handle after the interview, she said:

“I don’t expect to be identified as coloured outside ‘Southa’ by anyone not comfortable doing so because I understand the weight of that word outside SA.

“To close this conversation, I’m both coloured in South Africa and a black woman. With that being said, Asambeee,” she added in Zulu which means “let’s go.”

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Culture

South African anti-apartheid writer Breyten Breytenbach dies at 85

Published

10 minutes ago

November 25, 2024

Isaac Dachen

South African anti-apartheid writer and poet, Breyten Breytenbach, has passed away at the age of 85 after a long battle with ill-health.

A statement by his family said Breytenbach who was a staunch opponent of the county’s white-minority government’s apartheid policy of racial oppression, died in Paris on Sunday.

A citation by a South African news platform describes Breytenbach as a celebrated wordsmith and a leading voice in literature in Afrikaans, and a fierce critic of apartheid that was imposed against the country’s Black majority between 1948 and 1990.

“He moved to Paris but on a clandestine trip to his home country in 1975, he was arrested on allegations that he assisted Nelson Mandela’s then-outlawed African National Congress group in its sabotage campaign against the white-minority government,” the medium wrote.

“He was convicted of treason and served seven years in prison. French president Francois Mitterrand helped secure his release in 1982.

“Upon his release, Breytenbach based himself in Paris, becoming a French citizen, and continued his anti-apartheid activism.

“Breytenbach is best known for “Confessions of an Albino Terrorist,” his account of his imprisonment and the events leading to it.

“His work addressed themes of exile, identity and justice, his family said in a statement on Sunday. Known for his masterful poetry collections in Afrikaans, as well as autobiographical works such as “The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist” and “A Season in Paradise,” he fearlessly addressed themes of exile, identity and justice,” his family said in a statement.

Born in the Western Cape province in 1939, Breytenbach was a poet, novelist, painter and activist whose work touched on and influenced literature and the arts both domestically and abroad.

He joined Okhela, an ideological wing of South Africa’s African National Congress, in exile, but remained deeply connected to his South African roots, his family said.

Culture

Nicki Minaj eulogizes Davido for collaborating with her on new song

Published

1 day ago

November 24, 2024

Isaac Dachen

American rapper, Onika Maraj, popularly known as Nicki Minaj, has poured encomium on Nigerian Afrobeats superstar, David Adeleke, aka Davido, for featuring in her track, ‘If It’s Okay”, which, according to her, gave the song an authentic Afrobeats tempo.

Nicki, who expressed her gratitude to the Nigerian singer, had, on Friday, taken to her X page to show love to Davido by posting “Thank you Davido” along with the visuals of the track.

To further show her appreciation, Nicki, while responding to a question from an X user, Tae, said the “Unavailable” singer gave the track the Afrobeat feel.

Tae had written: “What drew you to Davido for the song ‘If it’s Okay’? In my opinion, he was an ideal choice for this incredible masterpiece! He was speaking that ish.”

Responding to Tae, Nicki wrote:

“That man is an incredible writer and melody maker. It’s always a pleasure working with him because of our mutual respect for one another.

“I asked him to be a part of it in order to bring out the Afro beats tempo/feeling in it a bit more. Naija to the world.”

The track, “If it’s Okay” is part of the 10th-anniversary special edition of Nicki Minaj’s iconic album “The Pinkprint”, which was originally released in 2014.

The commemorative edition features four brand-new tracks, including collaborations with Swae Lee (Turn Ya Cap Back), David Guetta and Davido (If It’s Okay), and the late Juice WRLD (Arctic Tundra).