From her future-facing standpoint on R&B to the elaborate choreography that defines her live performances, for Tinashe , everything lies in the details. Alongside her 12.5 million monthly listeners, we aren’t the only ones who have noticed, either: the singer, songwriter, producer and creative visionary has racked up an enviable list of collaborators over the last decade (including Charli xcx and even Britney Spears), and has certified herself as her genre’s most resilient underdog.
Her career began with a voice role in Christmas classic The Polar Express before a shortlived stint in a dance-pop girlgroup saw her hit the road with Justin Bieber. It wasn’t until their disbandment that the Tinashe of today began to take shape, though, with a series of experimental, introspective mixtapes (which impressively, she taught herself to produce) catching the attention of critics. She signed with RCA to release 2 On (a carpe-diem anthem dedicated to nights out) and eventually her 2014 debut, Aquarius.
It seemed like the stars had aligned. Except, they hadn’t. Despite international recognition, never ending disputes with her label over her direction led to years of delayed and cancelled projects and, unsurprisingly, left her without a sense of who Tinashe was.
To the relief of fans, they finally parted ways in 2019. “Going out on my own was the step I needed,” she tells me from California, where she’s lived since childhood. “It felt empowering.
” Since, the 31-year-old .