Tyga has appeared to score his latest hit with his recent release “Ay Caramba,” a number that finds the rapper attempting to recapture the Latin-inspired magic of his 2019 single, “Macarena.” While the accompanying music video has amassed more than 4 million views on YouTube less than a month after its release, it has also garnered criticism from the Mexican community. Many have been deriding the visual for its stereotypical portrayal of Mexican culture, while others are deeming it as outright racist.
In an effort to clarify his intent, Tyga sat down with the L.A. Leakers and American Cholo podcast host Gil Tejada, who was among those who were offended by the video. The rapper apologized to the Mexican community for his insensitivity. “When I dropped the video, I wasn’t in L.A. I was in Europe,” Tyga explained of his delay in addressing the backlash. “Then I started seeing a lot of people offended by it and I was kind of confused, so that’s why I didn’t respond. I took time.”
The “Rack City” rapper continued, adding “I didn’t comment on anything, I didn’t like any posts. I kind of like tried to do my research a little bit. I tried to ask a lot of my friends that I grew up with that were Mexican.” Tyga also pointed to his history of releasing songs inspired by Latin sounds, which he says is his way of showing respect and appreciation for many of his childhood friends who are of Mexican descent.
“I want to apologize to the Mexican community and my fans that are Mexican,” he said. “I have a lot of Latin fans that are Puerto Rican or Dominican that probably weren’t offended by this video. But, my Mexican fans in L.A., there definitely was some that were offended.”
Tyga is far from the first rapper to get into hot water for releasing culturally offensive material. In 2018, Florida rapper Lil Pump issued an apology of his own to the Asian community after using a racial slur in his song “Butterfly Doors.”
Watch Tyga’s interview with the L.A. Leakers below.