Why are Tyla and Tiwa Savage beefing?

29 September 2025, 12:14 | Updated: 1 October 2025, 12:35

Tiwa Savage and Tyla got into it over the last week following a podcast interview and performance at The Global Citizen Festival – but what exactly happened? Why are the women beefing? Here are all the details.

Tyla has blown up since her hit track ‘Water’, introducing the world to the music of South Africa, but there has been a lot of confusion and controversy around her labelling herself ‘coloured’, and now Tiwa Savage put her two-pence in.

The South African star rocked the stage at the Global Citizen Festival in New York on September 27th, alongside Ayra Star, Cardi B and Shakira.

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During her performance of her new track, ‘Mr. Media’, a song about her battle with her media representation, she threw subtle shade at Tiwa, after a feud was sparked last week.

But what happened?

Why are Tyla and Tiwa Savage beefing?

In response to Tiwa, Tyla said: “Sorry, I’m not sorry, eh!”

This comes following a viral interview clip with the ‘On The Low’ singer, released on 24th September, on The Breakfast Club.

The singer-songwriter was asked about the controversy Tyla had received, specifically from American audiences, in response to publicly labelling herself ‘coloured’, a word that holds a lot of historical significance in the US.

Tiwa said: “I don’t know, I feel like I felt for her a little bit, because she’s young and I don’t think she means to come across ‘like that’. “

She continued: “Where I’m from, when something like this happens, they say the elder will come and say on behalf of such and such we apologise. I feel like if that wasn’t communicated, I would like to say on behalf of that or her, we apologise, we didn’t mean it forgive us.”

This moment caused some ‘beef’ as some fans suggested the songwriter had no right to apologise on behalf of the ‘Jump singer.

Fans argued Tiwa seemed to side with the haters in agreeing that Tyla labelling herself by her own culturally ‘correct’ term, coloured, was wrong, because of the American popular belief.

However, the Afrobeats superstar addressed it in her own way by saying she didn’t have anything to apologise for, in front of 60,000 people in the crowd, and the fans are loving it.

One fan commented: “I love her defiance so bad.”

Another said: “@TiwaSavage we are not sorry… neither is Tyla.”

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