Tyrese is speaking out after the controversy surrounding his “Latino” comments.
The “Sweet Lady” singer sparked a social media frenzy nearly a week ago when he took to Instagram to express his occasional desire to have been born Latino. In his shocking post, he compared the perceived unity in the Latino community to what he saw as fragmentation and dysfunction within the Black community.
“Sometimes I wish I was born Latino…. I mean the Latin community is grounded in family, loyal, entrepreneurs, businessman, and women literally represent the dream, the grind the hustle doing whatever it takes to stick together against all odds…If us is black culture was more grounded in these integral magical nuances of us, we would be dominant,” he wrote in part of the lengthy IG caption.
His words angered the Black community so much that he was forced to offer a follow-up statement. Tyrese explained that his post was taken out of context. He shared an edited photo of himself wearing a sombrero with another lengthy caption, making it clear that he loves being a Black man but would like to see more unity in the Black community.
“Of course we ARE we are beyond powerful, influential, and successful, but imagine if we TRULY all linked up like other communities have linked? Poured and built up on each other Instead of moving as fragmented as are moving now and being so insecure and competitive a.k.a. Dysfunctional,” he wrote.
Tyrese is no stranger to making eyebrow-raising comments. However, these come on the heels of a rumored reunion with TGT, which features himself, Ginuwine, and Tank. It’s unclear how they feel about his comments or whether or not they will affect their supposed tour talks. Though knowing Tyrese, this surely won’t be the last time he angers the internet.
