FEATURE:
Modern Heroines
PHOTO CREDIT: Marcus Cooper
Part Eighty-Six: Tinashe
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AN artist who I feel is both acclaimed and hugely successful…
but also underrated at the same time, Tinashe is someone who is hugely influential and, in my view, will be seen as an icon of the future. This feature is designed to highlight fantastic women in music who are going to be seen as the modern-day elite; go on to become artists we discuss decades from now. Born Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe in Lexington, Kentucky, Tinashe is a multi-talented, multidisciplinary artist who I think could get some huge acting roles soon too (she has had an impressive variation of roles so far). An artist who could cross disciplines like Lady Gaga and be nominated for awards, she moved to Los Angeles as a child to pursue a career in entertainment. Last year’s 333, her fifth studio album, is perhaps her best work to date. I have covered 2018’s Joyride (her third) album, explaining how that is underrated as a piece of work. A tremendous R&B/Pop artist with her own sound and an incredible voice, there are a few interviews that I want to bring in. Although I am finishing with a playlist of songs from each of her albums, I want to make the main focus 333. Released through her own label, Tinashe Music, it was the second album released on her label. Splitting from RCA after Joyride, Tinashe has spoken about this in interviews. INSIDER spoke with Tinashe in 2021. Before concentrating on 333, INSIDER discussed Songs for You, and how this was the first release from Tinashe as an independent artist:
“This fall was Tinashe's first time touring independently. She released her first album as an independent artist, "Songs for You," just a few months before the novel coronavirus was declared a global pandemic.
When she was forced to cancel her original tour plans and self-isolate, she dived back into music and became "hyper-focused" on her new project.
"I was like, 'OK, I think the best way that I can pivot this is to just create a new body of work that when the world opens up again I can be excited about that and have a fresh energy to perform,'" she said.
"I didn't want to make music that felt the way I was feeling, which was nervous for the future, lethargic, just mopey sitting in the house," she continued. "I wanted to create something that felt the opposite of that and inspired me, and then hopefully it would inspire others."
Self-isolation bred Tinashe's latest project, "333," which she named after the idea that repeating angel numbers provide divine protection and purpose.
On the opening track "Let Go," appropriately named after Tinashe's current mantra, she introduces her album with a line that she spends the next 47 minutes disproving: "Waiting on somebody else to save me."
The sentiment stands in stark contrast to the self-sufficiency Tinashe exhibits elsewhere in her music and that she radiates in real life.
"Within the course of the album, you see moments where I feel liberated. Then sometimes we backtrack, which is a big part of life as well — the cycles that we go through and how we're able to come out of each of those with a little bit more perspective," she said.
For her part, Tinashe alluded to similar struggles for control. She signed to RCA Records in 2012 after releasing two critically acclaimed mixtapes but quickly became disenchanted with her contract's "psychologically limiting" expectations.
The messaging was, she explained, "I'm an R&B artist. I have to make music that my fans are going to expect to sound like this, or vice versa. I'm pop now so I can't make music that's too urban or quote-unquote R&B." She felt pressure to make music that was "trendy," asking, "What do I think my label is going to get behind and push?".
"I was made to feel like I had to choose that I couldn't be who I am, which I do think is somewhere in the middle of genres," she said.
Tinashe severed ties with RCA in 2019. Now she hears stories of younger artists using her as inspiration and taking control of their careers from the jump.
"Not taking any of those pressures into consideration has led me down a much more instinctual creative path, and it's been very liberating," she said. "Those blockages are not issues anymore."
Tinashe described the themes of "333" in terms of liberation and progress. Marcus Cooper
Although Tinashe began making "333" with no expectations, she said the essential themes of self-discovery and empowerment were "somewhere inside from the beginning." She described the creative process as an "excavation."
Listening to the album feels like traversing new terrain, and you're not sure whether it's a simulation, foreign planet, or glitchy version of Oz. ("Let Go" interpolates the melody from "Soon As I Get Home," performed by Diana Ross for "The Wiz," a remake of the classic 1939 musical.)”.
Now that she is releasing music as an independent artist, I can hear this freedom and greater control. She is producing her best music of her career. 333 is her pinnacle in my view. COMPLEX interviewed Tinashe in October. They asked her about the 333 Tour and how she would define her music:
“333 has some of the dark R&B that we heard so much of on Nightride, and still manages to deliver the bigger pop bangers with “Undo” or “The Chase.” What do those poppier moments mean to you on a Tinashe record?
That’s who I am, and that’s who I am as an artist, so I think that it just feels really natural. Because I made the records, I don’t know. I don’t like to think strategically and be like, “We need a dark one, and a poppy one.” I just make what feels right to me and it ends up being the outcome.
I’ve read a lot of your older interviews, and early looks with Aquarius had you labeled an R&B star. I know “No Drama” had you calling yourself a pop star, but do you use labels like that at this point in your career?
I hated being called an R&B star. I really, really had a strong aversion to that. I felt that created a ceiling to my art and my artistry that really turned me off in the early days. I didn’t want to be in that box that I felt had some type of inevitable lid on it. I’ve always honestly classified myself as a pop star. That’s always been what I see for myself, and then I think people’s interpretation of what that means is maybe where it gets convoluted, because some people think pop means mainstream. Like, I don’t know, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, or something. But I think that’s not what that really means. To me, it’s more like what you embody more so than, I think, what it sonically sounds like.
Each music video you put out becomes a moment of its own. Do you think there’s always going to be a space for that level of choreo in music videos
If people keep creating this space for it. I mean, I definitely think when I got in the game, there were not many people that were doing choreography. I mean, people have in the past. But there was an era where people kind of stepped away from that. People used to say it wasn’t cool or it was corny. And it always felt really natural to who I am, and also what I loved about artists that I grew up with. So it was always really important for me to bring that to the next generation. It’s exciting to see so many other people doing it now. But yeah, it’s all up to the artists to continue to bring that into the future.
What’s been the most important takeaway from 333 and this tour so far?
I’m just trying to really live in the moment and be in the moment now, and appreciate every step of the way. Because I do think that there was some time in the early days of my career—I’ve always been very appreciative—but there were moments where so much was happening. I’m so busy traveling. Just taking a second to really try to take it all in every day, is probably the biggest takeaway. Just being really viscerally in every moment”.
I will lead up to a review of the magnificent 333. In addition to being a superb songwriter and artist, Tinashe is a brilliant actor. In addition to all of this, she starred in a YouTube Originals series, The Outsiders?. It was an opportunity for Tinashe, as a Black artist, to talk about their experiences in the industry. Tinashe talked more about the series to ELLE:
“Coming off the heels of her 333 album release, Tinashe stars in new Youtube Originals The Outsiders?, out today. The six-part series, by filmmaker Simon Frederick, profiles young Black talent from around the world shaping entertainment and culture. They include artists and creators like Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Insecure’s Amanda Seales, and author Chidera. In the series, each talks about experiences of discrimination, racism, and being excluded and marginalized in society and their industries.
“It's important to show stories of Black people, especially Black artists, creatives, from a different perspective,” Tinashe tells ELLE.com. “A lot of times we don't get the chance to tell our stories firsthand. And I love that this was so nuanced. [We] all have different stories but similar things that we go through.”
Now on a nationwide tour for her fifth studio album, the second since going independent in 2019 to form Tinashe Music Inc., the 28-year-old singer, performer, and songwriter says being part of The Outsiders? allowed her to speak about the biased narratives surrounding Black artists in a way that people could understand.
Frederick says the inspiration behind the project came out of frustration with how Black artists like Tinashe are regularly stereotyped and unfairly treated. Especially now against the backdrop of last year, where there were calls for racial parity in the industries covered in The Outsiders? following George Floyd's death, with many companies quick to pledge to change. Yet, little to no measurable shift has been seen in those spaces since.
“A lot of organizations and industries became more socially conscious and culturally aware that they needed to be seen to be doing more regarding racial inequality in their organizations,” Frederick says. “But I honestly believe that a lot of it was knee-jerk and performative.”
So, he set out to change those perceptions and spotlight systematic disparities in the series. “Those of us who are born Black in the western world are considered outsiders even before we are born,” Frederick says of the title. And yet, in making it big, in becoming successful, “the very same people who consider us to be outsiders are the very same people who are telling everybody else that we are now people everyone should be following.”
“I just want people to look at creatives and artists with a little bit of empathy and compassion,” Tinashe says of some of those contradictions she’s experienced. “My particular story has been a real testament to how I've built my career and how I've created what I have for myself. I wouldn't be where I am now, if it weren't for things that I've gone through”.
You talked about building a sense of empathy with viewers when describing why you wanted to be part of The Outsiders? What did you mean by that, and what do you hope people take away from the series?
People assume those in the public eye don’t have struggles because all they see is the glam. They don't think about all the obstacles it's taken or how many glass ceilings we've had to break to reach that position. I wouldn't be where I am now if it weren't for the things that I've gone through, from when I was growing up to when I was on the come up. So, I think it’s important for us to share those difficult moments so people can have empathy. Because with that compassion—by placing yourself in other people’s shoes and feeling what other people are going through, and reflecting on your own life and experiences—you can see aspects of your own story in our struggles.
Part of the series talks about the struggles of being discovered and whether it was worth it in the end. For Black female creators, especially, do you think that fight is more challenging, and is more of that empathy you talk about needed?
Absolutely. There's that stereotypical trope that we have to work twice as hard and be twice as good. But, those stereotypes come from reality, from society. When I talk to Black creatives, we each have had to figure out how to navigate the world and culture to get to the positions we're in now.
And a lot of times, when people look at Black artists, it's easy to dehumanize us because we’re thriving. So with more of these conversations about what we went through and how we felt, maybe people can understand that we're just people too. And that, yes, we've been able to accomplish these amazing things in what we've been able to create, but it's hard out here. It's not an easy journey”.
Prior to coming to a review of 333 from AllMusic, Stereogum gave some background to Tinashe’s fifth studio album in their review. Even though she did split with a major label, as they write, it sort of made sense – and has meant she can step out independently as an artist:
“Labels, man. It’s not like they’re completely useless, but damn do they get in the way sometimes. There are so many cautionary tales about promising musical artists whose careers have been irreparably harmed by bumbling record companies. Given the resources, exposure, and presumed expertise a label can provide, you can understand why a musician would link up with one. It can feel like ascending to the next level, a necessary step on the way toward the career you’ve always dreamed of. Often, though, artists end up in limbo, at the whims of executives who don’t understand them nearly as well as the artists understand themselves.
Such was the case with Tinashe. The child actor turned singer, dancer, and producer was clearly on to something with the string of mixtapes that earned her significant buzz in the early 2010s, full-lengths that put a stylish R&B spin on the era’s prevailing cloud-rap sound. At first, a deal with RCA Records seemed to be reaping benefits when “2 On” became a huge radio hit and debut album Aquarius cemented her status as a star. But the disastrous half-decade she spent following it up almost destroyed her career. From the moment in late 2015 when Tinashe leaked her brilliantly tripped-out Young Thug collab “Party Favors” and RCA quickly released a generic club track called “Player” with Chris Brown instead, it became clear artist and label were not on the same page. What followed was an era fraught with flop singles and seemingly endless behind-the-scenes drama. And when Tinashe finally did release Joyride in 2018, it was kind of a mess.
So it made perfect sense when she and RCA parted ways in early 2019 — even more so when her first independent album Songs For You dropped later that year. Songs For You brought back the free-flowing spirit of Tinashe’s early mixtapes, but with the polish and versatility of a major statement album. It affirmed that Tinashe could thrive beyond the aesthetic that initially helped her blow up, but despite the stylistic range — at the time I wrote that it included “low-key house beats, crystalline trap, throbbing proto-dubstep, roller rink disco, dreamy pop balladry, snarling minimalist hip-hop, and more” — it hung together as a unified work. Last year’s low-stakes EP Comfort & Joy was one of the least corny, most enjoyable Christmas releases in recent memory. Now she’s back with 333, a second indie LP on which she continues to thrive on her own terms.
Over the past year Tinashe has been telling interviewers about her distaste for the concept of genre, which she dismisses as restrictive and rooted in racial segregation. There’s something to her critique. Other Black artists such as Tyler, The Creator have similarly wondered why their music can’t just be received as pop; meanwhile a white star like Ariana Grande is considered a pop star by default despite steering her music in an explicitly R&B direction. Clearly there is some value in classification as a way of discussing the styles, trends, and movements that cohere around particular musical characteristics. But Tinashe was not wrong when she told Zane Lowe last week that 333‘s title track — a shapeshifting deconstructed banger influenced by James Blake — “doesn’t fit a particular genre at all… it’s just a sonic experience.”
So it goes throughout 333. It’s not exactly a radically experimental LP, but Tinashe spends most of it sliding across an eclectic landscape of sounds, centered on fluttery impressionistic R&B but just as likely to veer into neon arena anthems (the Stargate-produced “The Chase”), undulating synth-pop (“Undo (Back To My Heart)” with Wax Motif), breathless dance-adjacent hip-hop (the Buddy collab “Pasadena”), or darkly spacious slow jams (the Kaash Paige duet “Angels”). Whereas the similarly diverse Joyride seemed awkwardly stitched together, a result of too many cooks in the kitchen, Tinashe’s post-RCA albums feel coherent no matter how much she experiments because they’re so clearly an outgrowth of her own perspective. She’s the one calling the shots, and she knows damn well what she’s doing”.
333 shows what an amazing artist Tinashe is. In terms of her music, acting and how powerful and insightful her interviews are, she is an idol and someone who is hugely inspiring to so many people out there. I am looking forward to seeing what she does next. I want to source AllMusic’s review of the magnificent 333 before wrapping up:
“Tinashe would be justified in hyping 333 as her finest and most artful work. Whereas her previous album, the self-released Songs for You, followed a protracted conflict with RCA and was pieced together -- and despite no shortage of highlights, sounded like it -- 333 sees the singer truly settling into independence. There's a near surplus of the breathy slow jams and midtempo cuts that roll and skitter like the tracks on which she built her reputation. Each one of those songs uniquely tweaks the approach to make it sound fresh. Nestled inside the first batch of them is an indication that 333 has much more to offer than refinements: a speedy and atmospheric drum'n'bass interlude sent aloft by Tinashe's alluring falsetto. Later tracks surprise with changes in tempo, style, and mood. High-tension beats drop out midway and crawl back in mutated form with Tinashe either handling the transitions with elegance or handing off the mike to a compatible featured artist. Any one of three sections in "Small Reminders" could have been separated and developed into a highlight; as a composite, it dazzles, peaking in the middle with funk so bumptious and rubbery that it could turn Anderson .Paak green. "Undo (Back to My Heart)" does the 1983-themed emotional repairment night drive as well as any of Tinashe's contemporaries, while "The Chase" evokes roughly the same era in full-on pop anthem mode. For all its sharp turns, 333 has a fluidity and high level of conviction that Tinashe's previous full-lengths lack”.
Go and listen to the sensational music of Tinashe if you are new or a bit unfamiliar. Such a strong and original talent, she is going to keep growing and putting out amazing work for many years to come! The playlist below is a selection of some of the best songs from the Kentucky-born artist. I admire greatly everything she has put out. Because of that, I was eager to salute and celebrate…
A superstar and idol.