The Real Reason why Tyla is "UNLIKABLE." (PT. 2)

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Everybody knows I love Rihanna, you know.

[00:00:03]I love Ri. Oh, wait. Yo.

[00:00:07]So, everybody knows the lighting low enough. Okay, is the hair right? Okay, yo.

[00:00:11]Yo, guys. Oh, I just woke up like, you know.

[00:00:15]Everybody knows I love Ri. Wait, let me show them how I look.

[00:00:19]Everybody knows I love Rihanna, you know.

[00:00:24]Hey.

[00:00:26]I just woke up.

[00:00:29]So, you guys You guys know I love I love Rihanna, you know.

[00:00:35]I feel like Tyla gets more smoke and discourse than the actual abusers and losers roaming throughout the music industry. Like literally, another year, another video, another Tyla controversy that gets the internet overly enraged and strangely hostile. And before we even get into this conversation, I highly recommend watching my previous two videos, The Real Reason Why Everyone Hates Tyla and Why Exactly Is Tyla Flopping Because I already discussed a lot of the earlier controversies, trigger points, and cultural tensions Tyla has had with certain parts of the North American and Western audience during her pursuit of pop stardom. But for this video specifically, I want to focus less on the individual controversies themselves and more so on the tale as old as time within the entertainment industry, the endless obsession with finding the next somebody. We've seen it happen for decades. Beyoncé and Chris Brown being labeled the next Michael Jackson, Ariana Grande and Leona Lewis being compared to Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga being called the new Madonna, Nicki Minaj being compared to Lil' Kim, Normani being pushed as the next Beyoncé, Chloe Bailey being labeled another Beyoncé clone, Cardi B being positioned as the next Nicki. The industry and the public are constantly searching for a replacement, a successor, or an updated version of an icon instead of simply allowing artists to exist as themselves. And from the minute Tyla stepped onto the scene, she was instantly compared to Rihanna.

[00:02:01]Part of that comes from Tyla openly naming Rihanna as one of her biggest inspirations and saying she wants a career that mirrors or even surpasses Rihanna's level of success. Do you have an an album or an artist that really did it for you? I always say Rihanna, always. Just the fact that she came from somewhere outside of America and was able to do what she did.

[00:02:20]Like I will always respect and look up to her for that. Have you met her yet?

[00:02:25]Not yet. Yeah, I'm nervous, but hopefully one day. It's going to happen.

[00:02:29]Yeah. I'm curious how that encounter goes. She's super sweet though. She's super sweet. I I I'm sure she is.

[00:02:35]>> People also compare them because of their quote-unquote exotic, foreign backgrounds, their beauty, their charisma, their carefree personalities, their social media presence, their visuals, and even the tone of some of their music videos.

[00:02:48]There's this familiar energy there that reminds people of Rihanna during her musical peak in the late 2000s or early 2010s. Now, personally, while I definitely see some similarities, I think the biggest difference between them is their cultural identity and how that shapes their artistry.

[00:03:04]Rihanna has always been more edgy, experimental, unpredictable, and genre-blending. Her music pulled from pop, dancehall, hip-hop, R&B, EDM, rock, literally everything.

[00:03:17]Meanwhile, Tyla's identity feels much more rooted in amapiano and African pop influences. Even when Tyla makes commercial pop music, there's still a distinct South African flavor embedded into her sound.

[00:03:29]Whether or not that sound has fully resonated with the Western audience she is trying to capture, I actually don't think Tyla's musical influences and stylistic choices sound and looks like Rihanna's nearly as much as people claim it does. But despite both women being in completely different chapters of their careers, Rihanna being a legendary, semi-retired billionaire mother focused on family and business, while Tyla is a young artist still trying to establish longevity and build her second era. The internet could not wait for these two women to finally cross paths publicly.

[00:04:01]And honestly, the Met Gala interaction was probably inevitable. Now realistically, we probably would have never even gotten insight into that interaction if Tyla herself hadn't posted that now viral video discussing how uncomfortable the experience was for her while meeting Rihanna. I look crazy right now, but I just woke up.

[00:04:19]My voice is raspy.

[00:04:23]But basically, y'all everyone knows I love Ri.

[00:04:28]Oh my gosh.

[00:04:30]So, I met her last year.

[00:04:33]And she was cool.

[00:04:35]You know, I met her, but I think she was occupied cuz she was like I was like I went up to her. I was like, "Oh, hey, you She was like, "Hey, um my baby dad is calling me." And then she left. I was like, "Oh."

[00:04:50]Maybe she was busy.

[00:04:51]So, I don't know. I felt awkward. What the heck? I felt awkward. I don't know how to say hi.

[00:04:56]If I feel like someone's busy, it's like mm.

[00:04:59]So, this time I was waiting for my car and she was right there and I was Yes.

[00:05:06]So, this time, yeah, I don't want to go up because I felt like she was busy. You know what I mean? And the last time she was busy. So, I I want to like when we do speak, if we do end up speaking ever, I want it to be like calm so we both can just you know, vibe. Immediately, I understood why Tyla posted it. She was clearly responding to that viral photo where she's standing awkwardly near Rihanna while Rihanna appears to be looking everywhere except at Tyla's direction. To me, it felt like Tyla was trying to clarify the moment before the internet created its own narrative. Tyla posted on her Instagram story that the ghetto part of the Met is when we all got to stand glammed up in our costumes while people watch us wait long on all the cars to come around and fetch us one by one. Why ruin the illusion? But, unfortunately, her explanation completely fell on deaf ears.

[00:05:57]Instead, people immediately started asking, "Why would Tyla even say this publicly? Why mention it at all?"

[00:06:03]Because, whether fair or unfair, there's kind of an unspoken celebrity rule where you do not publicly call out another celebrity's negative behavior, especially somebody as respected and powerful as Rihanna. And while Tyla has always come across as very open, carefree, and honest online, I can admit it still came across as very messy and childish. What also made the timing worse is that Rihanna herself was already trending online for multiple awkward-looking moments with A$AP Rocky during the Met Gala. There was that video of them sitting far apart in the Sprinter van, where people assumed that they were arguing, and another clip where Rihanna appeared to be standing awkwardly while A$AP had this lively conversation with Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert, the creative director from Swarovski. So, Rihanna was already the subject of online speculation before Tyla's video even entered the chat, which means for a chronically online Gen Z artist like Tyla to publicly add another layer to the discourse, whether intentional or not, was probably never going to work in her favor. And once that happened, the internet immediately shifted into attack mode. Suddenly, people were dragging Tyla's so-called flop career, comparing her achievements at 24 to Rihanna's achievements at 24, saying she hasn't had a hit since "Water", criticizing her for referring to A$AP Rocky as Rihanna's baby daddy, even though Rihanna has referred to A$AP as her baby daddy on numerous occasions, as well as accusing Tyla of not being a real Rihanna fan, claiming she felt entitled to Rihanna's validation, while others went into the complete opposite direction and started saying Rihanna was jealous, threatened, or intimidated by Tyla supposedly becoming her replacement. I saw tweets that said, "Rihanna's fans are falling into the trap Barbs fell and fall into. Why on earth would you compare her songs, career, or anything to Tyla? Media houses will push it. Her PR team will exploit such undeserving opportunity till her flimsy career becomes an ROI for substitute branding and label." And which someone else responded by saying, "Yeah, Tyla's whole career, style, music, music videos, even down to the dances and her sex appeal is low-key a replica of Rihanna's. She needs this beef more than anything, which is why when her and her team seen the controversy online, she made that video." And another person that said, "Tyla respected Rihanna's boundaries because she felt like she was busy and didn't approach her. Why is everyone mad at her?" And another person that said, "What's funny about this Tyla and Rihanna situation is that the downside of the situation looking back, Ariana experienced this from her idol, Olivia Rodrigo experienced this from her idol, Billie partially experienced it, Cardi and Latto, too." And another person that said, "Tyla, baby, you're just going to have to understand that I am not greeting no younger version of myself while chaperoning my DM sliding Mr. Baby Daddy."

[00:08:49]And honestly, I think both extremes are ridiculous. But the discourse escalated even more when Rihanna later posted her Met Gala recap video using Ayra Starr's song "Who's That Girl" as the background audio. And because Rihanna has publicly embraced Ayra several times through several Fenty-related events, and of course their Roc Nation affiliation, people instantly interpreted the post as subtle shade towards Tyla.

[00:09:13]And this is where the war between both fan bases and home countries enter the conversation yet again.

[00:09:19]Who's that girl? Who's that girl? Who's [music] popping? That girl is unstoppable. What's coming? Feeling the energy Rihanna is going to be so pissed at me. I like this girl, Ayra Starr.

[00:09:29]I don't know who, but then my cousin, she just was like, "Oh my god, I love this Ayra Starr." And we went down a hole.

[00:09:36]Obsessed.

[00:09:52]>> One thing I've noticed online is that although Tyla and Ayra Starr are both African artists, Tyla from South Africa and Ayra from Nigeria, their fan bases have developed this really really strange rivalry over the past couple of years.

[00:10:06]And I think a lot of that stems from scarcity mentality within global black entertainment spaces. For so long, African artists had limited representation in mainstream Western pop culture. So now that multiple African women are finally breaking through globally at the same time, fans almost treat success like there could only be one winner.

[00:10:25]Instead of celebrating the fact that African music and African women are becoming more globally visible, people turn it into a competition. Who is more authentic? Who is more prettier? Who has the most Grammys? Who is more accepted by black Americans? Who represents Africa correctly? Who deserves Western success more? Whose music is more organic versus industry pushed?

[00:10:46]It becomes less about music and more about identity politics and cultural ownership. And unfortunately, Tyla has often become the center of those conversations because her racial identity, appearance, and branding seem to trigger very different reactions depending on who you ask. I saw divisive tweets over the past week from people saying, "Tyla has never used her platform to speak against what her South African people are doing to other Africans. Instead, she uses them to bully Ayra Starr. That's why Rihanna ignored her and picked Ayra's side, proper black queen." Upon the news of Tyla performing at the 2026 World Cup opening ceremony in Mexico City, someone responded by saying, "Ayra Starr is set to perform Who's That Girl in Rihanna's bedroom on June 11th." And another person has said, "Rihanna doesn't see Ayra as a threat, so it's easy for her to like Ira is a flop, Tyla is a star. That's why Rihanna's threatened. So you Ira stans posting them together isn't a gag.

[00:11:38]All of this, even though Ira was one of the first people to champion and bring Tyla up on stage at a major festival a couple years ago.

[00:11:48]>> [music] >> Meanwhile, artists like Tems and Ayra Starr have largely been embraced differently by Western audiences. So whenever Rihanna publicly embraces Ayra but not Tyla, people immediately start projecting deeper meanings onto it.

[00:12:11]Now, do I think Rihanna's post was intentional shade? Of course it was.

[00:12:15]Rihanna has always had a petty and sarcastic side to her personality.

[00:12:19]That's what makes people love her.

[00:12:21]However, while Rihanna absolutely does not owe Tyla validation, acknowledgement, mentorship, friendship, or anything else, I would be lying if I said the interaction itself didn't feel a bit bizarre.

[00:12:34]Tyla has never publicly shaded Rihanna.

[00:12:36]If anything, she has consistently praised her in interviews and openly admired her career.

[00:12:42]They even share the same hair stylist.

[00:12:44]So I understand why people found Rihanna's energy toward her slightly cold. But at the same time, I could also understand Rihanna's perspective if there is discomfort there.

[00:12:55]Imagine constantly seeing another artist positioned as your replacement by the media and the internet. That has to create tension, whether intentional or not. We've heard Gabrielle Union speak about this regarding Ryan Destiny being framed as her replacement. We saw it with Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande before they eventually collaborated on Oh Santa in 2020. We saw it with Leona Lewis during the late 2000s. We've seen Beyoncé deal with endless comparisons to her plethora of sons for the past decade now.

[00:13:23]Every new girl with vocal ability, choreography, beauty, or stage presence gets labeled the next Beyoncé, and most of them collapse under the pressure because the expectations become impossible. And I think that's the bigger issue here. The public struggles to let artists exist independently.

[00:13:40]We're obsessed with comparison because nostalgia makes people emotionally attached to icons.

[00:13:45]Labels also encourage comparisons because it's easier to market a new artist as the next Rihanna instead of building a completely original narrative from scratch and letting people decide if that person has the it factor.

[00:13:57]It creates instant conversation, instant controversy, and instant attention, but it also traps newer artists inside someone else's shadow before they even fully discover themselves artistically.

[00:14:08]At the end of the day, I hope Tyla learns from this situation and uses it as motivation. Because realistically, the only way to silence critics, gain respect from the industry and peers, and move beyond these conversations is through undeniable hit records, stronger performances, and consistency.

[00:14:27]And honestly, since her controversies last year, it does seem like Tyla and her team are trying to broaden her global reach beyond just the United States and Black American audiences.

[00:14:39]Especially with the Asian tour that she had last winter and more international focused branding, I've always felt Tyla's music actually has stronger global appeal anyway. But the reality is, there's nothing Tyla could do to win over people who are already committed to hating her.

[00:14:55]And while I personally think songs like Chanel and She Did It Again are certified hits, and performing at the World Cup is a huge look for her career, this next album era is going to be extremely important because if A pop doesn't deliver major moments or hit records, then yeah, things could get a little more rocky for her.

[00:15:15]Please let me know in the comments, do you guys genuinely think Rihanna dislikes Tyla, or do you Do you the internet completely over-analyzed an awkward celebrity interaction? Also, why do you think the industry and the public are so obsessed with finding the next Rihanna, the next Beyoncé, or the next Michael Jackson instead of allowing artists to build their own identity?

[00:15:34]Lastly, what do you think Tyla's next album needs in order to shift public perception in her favor? Thank you all for watching. If you enjoyed this video, please be sure to like, comment, subscribe, and turn on notification bell, and I'll see you next time.