NEW YORK – Tinashe refuses to retreat from the unknowns of life — or the music industry — but instead, embraces them. That’s what makes the success of her cheeky, inuendo-filled hit, “Nasty,” taste oh so sweet.
“You never really know when that’s going to happen. You can’t really predict it,” she said of the song, which peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100, her second-highest charting track as well as No. 2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. “It’s been a blessing and something that I’m just super excited about.”
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Leading off her upcoming album “Quantum Baby” which drops Friday, “Nasty” rocketed after a social media user combined a snippet of the song with an existing clip that had already made its viral rounds. The song also garnered acknowledgement or some form of shoutout from icons like Beyoncé and Janet Jackson, as well Christina Aguilera, Anitta and more. Her standout lyric of “match my freak” has become a popular catch phrase.
This project marks her seventh studio album and the second of a three-part trilogy. The title nods quantum physics, as she hopes fans will enter her personal universe and rediscover her at the most fundamental, molecular level.
“I’ve been really lucky since leaving my major label, going independent, being able to focus on whatever I want to make creatively. And I’ve really honed that process over the last three albums,” said the songstress, whose previous album, “BB/ANG3L,” was released last year. “This second part of the trilogy is really focused on getting to know me a little bit deeper.”
The eight-track project, clocking in just over a swift 22 minutes, features production from Nosaj Thing, Ricky Reed and sdtroy, with Tinashe writing on every song.
Known for genre-bending, often fusing R&B, pop, dance and electronic elements with precise performance choreography to match, Tinashe debuted in 2014 with “Aquarius,” her highest-charting album to date. Despite not matching that success and often living in musical limbo, she chose to leave the support of RCA’s major label machine due to their rocky relationship. However, she’s kept her career afloat, in part thanks to a loyal fan base.
“When I first came on the scene, I was young, I was green. I feel like I’ve learned so much and gained so much, first of all, self-confidence,” explained Tinashe. “Being a young woman in these usually male-dominated spaces, there’s usually never any other women in the room. And you’d come in with a producer who’s made all these amazing records and you don’t wanna tell them what to do — and they’re not probably gonna listen to you anyways. So, I think now, I just have a much stronger sense of what I want to do and being able to give that direction.”
Recorded at her home studio, “Quantum Baby” features songs like the sultry, trap-soul track “Thirsty” and the vibey, Kaytranada-reminiscent “Getting No Sleep,” which serves as her second and current single. Often incorporating moody and atmospheric sonics, there’s also the intro track, “No Simulation,” where she harmonizes, “We’re all looking for something/where are we going/what do we do?”
“What I’m mostly looking for at this point in my life is just great experiences and peace of mind,” she said. “I’m at the point where I’m not trying to force or create anything anymore.”
Despite past collaborations with platinum-selling artists like Britney Spears, Chris Brown, Future and Nick Jonas, she’s no longer chasing big features or producer placements in hopes of bettering her chances to scale the charts.
“’2 On’ was my first single that I ever put out. So, I set the bar really high… and there was always that sense of like, ‘Can we do this?’ And that was always kind of on the forefront of my mind when creating records," reflecting on her Schoolboy Q-assisted track, which peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, her highest-charting song. “I think I’ve made better records since I’ve stopped considering how they will perform … I just really focus on my instincts and making something that feels good to me.”
What feels best to Tinashe now? It's being free from creative confinement and battling industry politics over her career. Her trendy style and fashion-forward eye makes her a frequent front-row guest at fashion shows and red carpet events, and she’s expressed an interest in returning to acting. In October, she’ll kick off her 23-date Match My Freak world tour, produced by Live Nation, to support the music.
The “All Hands on Deck” artist has managed to steady the ship of her career, and she’s willing to live with the results of navigating the turbulent music industry seas – as long as she’s the captain.
“Finding contentment in yourself and in your artistry is super important for a music artist in terms of feeling good about what you do because the music industry is so volatile … where I started to feel that freedom and contentment was when I didn’t set any expectations for myself,” she said. “That’s really success right now, it's just to make things that I love and to focus on creating great art that’s timeless”
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Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at: @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.