Tinashe - Aquarius (out October 7 2014)

No thread for her yet? Talked about a bit in the Rolling R&B threads. 3 excellent mix tapes in 2012-13. Acclaimed early-2014 single ("2 On"). Proper debut album out in October. Latest single is "Pretend," with A$AP Rocky:

https://soundcloud.com/tinashenow/tinashe-pretend-featuring-aap-rocky/

"Pretend" is just heavenly. Highest hopes for this album.

Yes, looking forward to this. Haven't checked out her tapes at all.

the last tape was pretty bad aside from "vulnerable" - which katy b later reworked into something more transcendent anyway.

this new song is awful

"now i admit that i was fucking with a kid" is a line that could've been rewritten imo

it reminds me of something specifically i can't put my finger on but more generally it's pretty superior morose rainy day r&b à la brandy's afrodisiac

The Rocky verse in particular is very De La Soul/Teenage Fanclub

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOmdg3epcic

that asap rocky song is still trash but this is dope http://www.thefader.com/2014/09/15/tinashe-feels-like-vegas

"It begs for a Wiz Khalifa guest verse"

lol foh Fader writers

aw I like that A$AP track

Yeah "Pretend" is great. Weird hearing Stargate become Noah "40" Shebib on this Vegas track tho

2 On > Pretend > Heaven or Las Vegas

They're all great though.

idh why j0rdan hates "pretend", i'd've thought it was totally in his wheelhouse

*idg

it's like R&B as written by linda perry -- i'm good

Heaven or Las Vegas

interesting slip

haha i was about to say

although it's easier to imagine Jhene Aiko singing "Heaven or Las Vegas"

Uhh, that was quite intentional.

Pretend is hot garbage

Also Matthew trammel is a good writer I don't think he nec. meant the wiz thing as a compliment

yeah as a neutral statement i agree w/ him

The song definitely needs something imo... there's a lot of space there it doesn't know how to fill

xps guess that was a lil too subtle for me, Herbie Handcock

meh these non-"2 on" songs are boring, not sure she will ever get interesting ime

Are y'all about to pull a Jessie Ware/Imagine It Was Us on this woman and constantly judge every new track by how it stacks up against the one song in her discography that was actually atypical of her usual sound?

feel like jessie ware's recent output has been judged against far more than "imagine it was us"

idk, i guess i'm still checking for tinashe. i cherrypicked some of her mixtape tracks & like a few of em. just not v excited for this album yet.

Jessie ware is dope, this is trash. easy

Are y'all about to pull a Jessie Ware/Imagine It Was Us on this woman and constantly judge every new track by how it stacks up against the one song in her discography that was actually atypical of her usual sound?

― Greer

it's a slow night

i'm with j0rdan that linda perry doing r&b sounds most unwelcome, but i don't really see what "pretend" has to do with that. just sounds in the lane of all the other songs this year aiming to sound a bit like deep brandy album cuts off afrodisiac

don't think either new one is a patch on "2 on" (obv) and i hope it's not all in this vein but they're def better than anything from her mixtape days, i could see them clicking into place in album context

The more I hear from this album the less sense I have of what it's trying to be. This is track 2 from the record, and its pacing and long, wonky guitar outro spit in the face of album sequencing best practices

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftB-DccfZkY

http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/22001/1/stream-tinashes-debut-album-aquarius

Awesome!

Stream doesn't work, blogs keep posting it anyway.

Content above all!

it's a pretty solid album

it feels very zeitgeisty in a contained way

that's vague

it feels zeitgeisty in that it tracks along post-drake, post-aaliyah is a goddess R&B but not like fka twigs or something where it's *all* about that

insofar as it's an album with inherent commercial motivations that still manages to sound 'hip' it feels perhaps even more idiosyncratic and considered than something like twigs where the aesthetic is really the meat of the album

not that the two need to be pitted against each other or anything -- i like the twigs album a lot too

could swap jhene aiko out w/ twigs and i think the argument still holds

I am very curious to hear this. does the stream not work for anyone? soundcloud told me it was because I was in the wrong country

Everything else on her soundcloud plays for me except the album stream.

About halfway through, and am enjoying this - Aquarius seems like a really suitable title, given the full on shiny, aquatic dub sonics and subsumptive dynamics. And, ah, pan-pipes.

Yeah, those pan-pipes...

Also about halfway through, also enjoying it.

it feels zeitgeisty in that it tracks along post-drake, post-aaliyah is a goddess R&B but not like fka twigs or something where it's *all* about that

what? the strength of the twigs album is that the pre-release narrative about that aesthetic is a gigantic red herring b/c it's not that relevant to the album, which feels like it's in another lineage entirely. it's got tinges of r&b about it but certainly not the real zeitgeisty sad-drake-r&b/glacial-aaliyah-vibes sort, and it's a v minor component anyway

How Many Times is amazing.

The stream I think is UK only but it worked for me using hola.

oh thank you, I recently moved to Canada from the US and have been meaning to figure out a good vpn

Man, I love the end of Bet, with the final thick chord, and then the guitar solo playing that little riff, which then becomes the bass-riff on Cold Sweat.

Half-expect Enya-sample from Ready or Not to drop at the start of Bet.

The best parts of this record recall Aaliyah's s/t slowjams.

It's crazy long tho, reminds me of Goldenheart that way - could have been a bit more concise.

It's only 12 songs in 56 minutes? Less than Beyonce. I mean, all those interludes and the fact that it's sonically kinda the same makes it a bit hard to handle, but I can already almost remember the track-order, which to me usually signifies that I'll listen to the record many many times. I really like it, guys!

Version I've got has 18 tracks, is this a mistake?

i think he's discounting the interludes

Oh yeah, fair enough. Maybe it is quite short. I've only listened through a couple of times so far.

Is this legit streaming somewhere yet in the U.S., or only everywhere but the U.S. still?

it's on itunes radio i'm pretty sure

this is sort of exactly what i expected but it's just a very superior execution on one listen, though if i was brandy i'd be so mad that afrodisiac killed my career and a decade later everyone's trying to ape it

"all hands on deck" is a banger, almost sounds like it should be a girl group song

the slow murky rest...obv one listen is not enough but it felt like they had enough personality and individuality to avoid the usual zzz pitfalls of slow sad submarine music

Hey this is indeed very good. I was maybe hoping for a few more surprises or exclamation mark moments, because this aesthetic is a little over familiar, but the material is top notch. I imagine it'll open up more when I'm not listening to it in an office

Not sure what she was going for here:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51goI0vmGlL._SX450_.jpg

Mortal Kombat character?

Guardian review is v lol:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/02/tinashe-aquarius-review

Haha "if you love interludes you'll love this album" is hard to argue with though

this record is great and i like it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caA0Ilrok1Q

KISS THE OLD ME GOODBYE SHE'S DEAD AND GONE
DEAD AND GONE

i never heard any of the mixtapes that were supposedly so different from "2 On" and probably further from my tastes, so i really didn't know what to expect from this album, but i'm very impressed, it holds together really well.

Tinashe had a recurrent role on 2 And A Half Men, who knew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnTxsTs_SjY

jake and celeste were also the names of lily kane's parents in VERONICA MARS

hey the bonus tracks/offcuts are good too

album is very soothing to listen to on a cold winter's night, i'm increasingly enamoured of it tbh

what really, really differentiates itself not just from a lot of albums of this ilk but a lot of albums in general is that the songs never blur into each other - each one is distinct, has its own memorable character. subtly different production details, unusually strong hooks, good sequencing probably all play a part in that.

wish "indigo child" was longer than an interlude, beat is sick

ayo is that a kalenna songwriting credit i see on "thug cry"!

That makes a bit of sense actually, Thug Cry was the one that really stood out on first listen. Second half in general is a bit stronger than the first I think, once it gets out of its whole hippy ambient thing, the exception being that one track near the end that sounds like The Scientist by Coldplay.

lyrics don't get more kalenna than those

How Many Times is amazing.

This is a good album, although something is missing to make me think it's a great one. "All hands on deck" and "watch me work" are jams

her feature on the Calvin Harris album is pretty dope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttUNDQjZ7wU

This record sounds really great after spending a few weeks away from it

I made a mistake of playing Aiko's album before this one on Sunday; the two bled into each other, all cool yearning.

Tinashe's vocal style is so much more appealing to me than Aiko's

yeah great album

this is a great great great album

lot of great vocal moments on this, both large and small

great great great album seconded. start to finish, really. tons of great production details too. "far side of the moon" is astonishing.

def top 5 of the year for me.

tons of great production details too. "far side of the moon" is astonishing.

― lex pretend, Tuesday, November 18, 2014 6:34 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

yeah the songs that sound like the moody/atmospheric ones at first -- cold sweat, far side of the moon, bated breath -- really start to stand out the more you listen

pleasantly surprised you guys dig it so much

best pop album of the year I think unless Sucker ends up being fantastic

yeah this and 1989 for me

Her lower register is so much stronger and with so much more personality than the Ciara-esque breathy upper register she spends most of this album in, and I don't really understand why she does so.

Far Side Of The Moon is some crazy-amazing shit.

Sometimes I'm like "what is truth if truth is subjective? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

this is a very good version of an unexciting direction to me, like the kehlani tape is making far more interesting choices but nothing is really quite as perfectly executed as this is

I will take "perfectly executed"...Was happily enjoying this last night

this is p dreamy

https://vine.co/v/Ogjdx2KdZUa

Sometimes I'm like "what is truth if truth is subjective? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

― Tim F, Monday, December 1, 2014 3:15 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol it's a sign of how much I love this album that this line now makes me smile rather than rmde. current favorite moment is how she pronounces "funny" on All Hands.

to be clear, I feel likwise.

Or perhaps I'm smiling with RMDs in my eyes.

for some reason i always get snagged on that question every time i've done LSD, wish i would just read some philosophy and figure it out

fyi reading philosophy doesn't really help ime

tinashe is right to insert a mental shrug at the end of her question

thanks to the album poll, I gave this album another shot. I love it. * plays "Thug Cry" for sixth time *

ah, I thought your post might have been rooted in affection, Tim, but wasn't sure. imo the tripping in the dorm room loopiness of that line turns from lead to gold once you grasp that the truth/subjectivity of the scenario in Pretend is a lot more earthbound than your average philosophical dilemma

more philosophy from R&B singers imo

This album is fine, and I'm glad that she's gotten so much love around here, but I still like the mixtapes better.

I'm diving into this deep. I think "How Many Times" is my fav atm. Are her mixtapes seriously this good too???

i thought this was a gigantic step up from her mixtapes, which never hooked me in much

Are her mixtapes seriously this good too???

no

yeah her mixtapes weren't *but* this track she did with ryan hemsworth is as good as any song on aquarius imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM_L8ZVoWA8

The album was a big step up but the mixtapes are still solid rnb albums. Her first one is the best.. I think. I got them all at the same time so it's sorta all a big mass of music.

she's releasing "all hands on deck" as the next single! yay!

...iggy azalea's doing a rap feat on it (burn everything)

Got tickets to see her in a couple of weeks. It'll be right after TKA Twigs the night before, so should make for an interesting contrast!

* FKA Twigs, obv.

i saw her friday - a heap more tracks from the mixtape than i'd expected and no live band (only a drummer adding more to the backing tracks) but she's an engaging performer and the dancing was fierce

she's releasing "all hands on deck" as the next single! yay!

...iggy azalea's doing a rap feat on it (burn everything)
--bae sremmurd (monotony)

uuuuuuggghhhhhhh

Yeah probably my least favorite on the album

Heavily jamming this remix of 'Pretend' by Redlight: https://soundcloud.com/redlight-uk/redlight-x-tinashe-pretend

she was excellent live last night. such a smoothly paced show

My fave Aquarius track gets a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIgKMmnj4Zs

Yeah, totally amazing live. Incredible show.

Great vid that.

Sometimes I'm like "what is truth if truth is subjective? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"

― Tim F, Monday, December 1, 2014 3:15 AM (3 months ago) Bookmark

Me

Oh man Bated Breath is amazing

Can't wait to watch that when I'm not at work xp

She's putting out a new mixtape next monday! And I'm seeing her live this Saturday.

yeah i'm surprised people haven't been too vocal about the mixtape here

i wanna see her live but she's not touring solo

new songs today?? this album has taken control of my brain.

http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/tinashe-amethyst-new-mixtape.115751.html
15 minutes

ohhhh boy

1minute 20s!!! lol

sounds v pretty on first listen. excited to bump it on my headphones later.

i'm late to the party as usual, but bc my bf can't hear me talk about Aquarius anymore, i'll get some of it out here (even though he's the one who recommended it to me!!). I essentially just think 2 On, All Hands On Deck, Feels Like Vegas, Cold Sweat, and Bet are some of the best songs i have ever heard. it's a little baffling. not to mention ... the rest of the album. just needed to vent!

yeah i'm surprised people haven't been too vocal about the mixtape here

― j. winters (josh), Thursday, March 12, 2015 8:51 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it wasn't out when you posted this!

it's funny to read this album's wiki. the way they describe the instrumentation on the songs is great. but there are also like a lot of spelling errors.

also the whole J Lo thing is pretty hilarious.

oh god i'd forgotten about "PBR&B"

<3 wanderer

that's the standout so far. On first listen the rest is pleasant.

water drips automatically make 'worth it' good.

gave it a listen earlier today (pretty much just listening to kendrick otherwise) and it was just ok for me. seemed like the weakest of her four mixtapes but i dunno if that's because i'm sort of tired of this sound right now. or you know, this is post-aquarius + it was exciting following a new artist back in 2012.

She's touring w/ Nicki!!

whoa rae sremmurd and dej loaf too? pretty awesome

mixtape is sorta dull but probably doesn't matter about that

Yeah, it's definitely enjoyable, but difficult to really get excited about.

She's touring w/ Nicki!!

― gybe horses (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, March 17, 2015 8:35 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the best/funniest thing about this is that she was going to be an opening act on the Iggy Azalea tour, but that just got postponed and days later she gets to trade way up to the Nicki tour.

i'm used to R&B acts only doing mixtapes if they can't put out major label retail albums, so it's been weird to see K. Michelle and now Tinashe put out mixtapes just 6 months after their albums. but it's cool, i'm glad they're keeping the music coming. haven't finished Amethyst yet but it's sounding pretty good. a couple guys from the band DRGN King worked on a couple tracks on this (they also did "Aquarius" and "Bated Breath" on her album), i interviewed them recently: http://www.citypaper.com/music/bcp-philly-band-drgn-king-pays-tribute-to-its-baltimore-roots-remembers-wham-city-charm-city-suicides-an-20150217,0,7313981.story

It's a good way to quarantine tracks they need to record but are retreads

It's more of a free EP than a mixtape, but not sure how relevant the distinction is.

It's like back in the day this would have been an extra CD on the deluxe tour edition of Aquarius...

yeah 7 songs definitely feels more like an EP, but everything i'd seen about it billed it as a 'mixtape,' and these days it's kinda like oh, whatever they said the release is, that's what it is. Drake put an hour of new songs on iTunes and called it a 'mixtape,' who even knows anymore.

isn't this kinda polished for a mixtape?

the answer may v well be "no, not at all" bcz I have extremely little exp w/ mixtapes

It is what it is

the sax solo at the end of "Worth It" is wonderful. Reminds me of the guitar freakout at the end of "Bet."

This mixtape is so good. Disagree that it's more of the same. Songs turned on their head so we get a look at their underside. Experiments perfect for album inbetweeners. Again the thing that makes it all work is Tinashe doing amazingly controlled gymnastics with her voice.

at first I thought this was a little blah (and some of the ad libs are real terrible), but I think the key is "Just the Way I Like You", which is awesome and genuinely weird. that fluttery broken-organ-key noise is super high in the mix, I assumed my mp3 was fucked up at first, love those drums too.

Yeah that's a great track

The Kool & The Gang sample (or recreation?) in "Wrong" is my favorite thing to hear around this time of year.

vocal gymnastics is right, damn girl

So, this might be her best release..? Album and all.

She's showing off on this tape in the best kind of way. Like how she opens Dreams Are Real all in whisper-n-b mode, then listen to how differently verse 1 and 2 are delivered - first one all high up in the air, 2nd down to earth, then down in the dirt, "I was on the ROAAad travlin', they can't FIiND me". Real TEXTURE here. I'm surprised, I take notice, while she's doing all these amazing things, playing with the beat a million ways even though the song would be solid delivered predictably, in one mode, she's serve and volleying, junk ball slicing for shits and giggles and even takes the time to sketch these compelling worlds. Makes you laugh at certain other artists occupying the same space being mentioned in the same breath.

Looking 4 It so good. At her funniest yet.
Popping, popping corn -looking for it
I be twerkin' alone - looking for it
On the phone - looking for it
"Where's bae? bae, bae"

The way she's skipping along to "Worth It" like some 2015 updated Cherish tune. The "I'm still in love with you" chorus on Wrong may be may favorite part of a 2015 song. Perfectly applied autotune. All these songs stand out enough to build a tape around them. She's casually throwing them out there. If this kind of playfulness can be transformed into an album it's a gamechanger.

This has sunk in!

not sure about Amethyst>Aquarius, but what really clicked for me listening again today is how different it is. mehsayers should give it another listen

this is nice on first listen.

YOU AIN'T TUPAC, BITCH

i definitely got the impression that it would grow into its own when i listened to it. but i'm still working thru Aquarius! like i'm almost done, but not quite. currently stuck on Wildfire.

It's true that this EP gets better over time. One of my favorite releases this year, and there's been a lot of great stuff coming out!

YOU AIN'T TUPAC, BITCH

― RAP GAME SHANI DAVIS (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, March 24, 2015 11:53 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

Kenrick diss!

love the guitars on the last track, so loose

THE FUTURE's mINE!

I'm so focused, I'm focused, I'm so focused, I'm focused

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxUdFQ6N_OI

Song has grown on me as a single and after seeing it live.

rly hate it when i step in a thigh high puddle of paint before a video shoot

getting iggy on the remix and then paying her dust in the video :)

probably would've done the video w/ Iggy if the tour they were doing together hadn't been postponed i'm guessing

do you think Frank Sabotka ever danced like that in his shipping containers?

probably would've done the video w/ ziggy if he wasn't in jail i'm guessing

incredible video for an incredible song

probably would've done the video w/ ziggy if he wasn't in jail i'm guessing

― r|t|c, Tuesday, April 7, 2015 7:36 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

:D

that video is a little yuck tbh

for some reason i cant just love tinashe or any move she makes, it all feels very prescribed

nb this may be the era we're in

not saying i dislike her either, this song is dope obv

you boost tink tho don't you? who feels even more prescribed than tinashe ever did

i will love her enough for the both of us then

(i don't really stan for tinashe yet either, just the album, if that distinction makes sense; i tried harder w/the mixtape following the encomia upthread but i really felt no interest or emotion at any point during any of its plays)

How is that video yuck though? And what's so prescribed about her, exactly? She's hard to pin down but I'd say she's pretty singular, right down to "poppin corn / lookin for it."

As for Tink I really like her but I'm put off by her moralisms.

you boost tink tho don't you? who feels even more prescribed than tinashe ever did

― lex pretend, Wednesday, April 8, 2015 10:33 AM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol. hardly. but then, i wrote about her back when her manager was a woman who managed like 9 other chicago artists (including videographers and DJs) who she'd all corral to go to various events, when Think was a shoestring budget artist before Timbaland had ever heard of her, so

http://www.thefader.com/2012/06/27/video-tink-fingers-up

*Tink

safari is a dumb browser trying to autocorrect my ilx posts back to chrome

How is that video yuck though?

the stripper moves are a huge turn-off personally

Really?

i'd love to know exactly why tink is so beloved of various hipster magazines - you know, the fader/fact/pitchfork etc crowd - who have rarely gone so hard to bat for any other r&b singer at her level

Tbh: same here. Her catalog is pretty weak IMO. That said, she has a following beyond that audience .... Like ppl "IRL" are attracted to her star qualities. I think she's charismatic and has the ability to be pretty major. The fact/fader crowd latching onto her does strike me as somewhat random bc mug of her material (imo fingers up and the Jeremih song excepted) is pretty insubstantial. But: I think she had lots of potential

Also, people are real into a timbo cosign, obv, and he didn't just cosign. He put all his chips on her, in a way he hasn't done in years

Bc MUCH of her material

HAS lots of potential

yeah apart from not discerning any star qualities (any more than idk nikkiya or kehlani or whomever) that's what confuses me too - i haven't thought any of her mixtapes have been statements of intent in either concept or execution. she raps and sings, is about all that makes her stand out to me? and all the boosting was happening pre-timbo!

i like "ratchet commandments" better than anything she did before and she has as much potential as anyone at that stage of their career, i just don't get the massively disproportionate boosterism from outlets who barely acknowledge most r&b singers

i think it's basically some riyl: Aaliyah bullshit, like her singing stuff was this amorphous atmospheric shit that just played well to the formal biases of fact/fader audiences. And it gained momentum bc people rightly imo see her potential

I think Tink's appeal is pretty obvious. She sings well, she raps well, she's engaging and charismatic. Even her lesser songs are really, really fun. I don't think the Aaliyah comparisons hold much weight; she carries her own sense of mischief.

"Don't Tell Nobody" was fantastic and "Ratchet Commandments" is really strong, too; I have a lot of hope that she'll continue hitting those highs.

She doesn't really sing well

"don't tell nobody" is the only song of hers that really struck me

i just can't shake the notion, at least right now, that a lot of writers really really want her to be famous without her having done much yet to get there

I think we all just want timbaland to be relevant again

I will argue that it's not just writers who like her though. She has a real world audience

Yeah, of if you ever listen to The Breakfast Club; Charlagmagne hypes her up like she's the second coming of Tupac.

Lol that's pure payola cmon

I mean I don't know that but it's def the most suspect endorsement ever

i guess i mean that writers have seemed to work really hard to place tink in the lineage of very beloved female artists without there being a ton of evidence that she's going to live up to that

and it seems suffocating to me, as someone who finds experiences her music through the press

xxp Haha, I mean, he showers her with such hyperbole that it actually kind of feels genuine to me, albeit in a blogger-y "I discovered this new artist and I want credit when she breaks" sort of way.

I think he even guested on one of her songs? Which I didn't know was something he did.

💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰

I like tink, where's my payola

'All Hands On Deck' - nautical themed = shipping containers? dgi

payola suggestion says more about charlemagne than tink fwiw

i guess i mean that writers have seemed to work really hard to place tink in the lineage of very beloved female artists without there being a ton of evidence that she's going to live up to that

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, April 8, 2015 8:32 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and it seems suffocating to me, as someone who finds experiences her music through the press

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, April 8, 2015 8:32 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah this is exactly how i feel too and i'm just confused as to WHY HER? i mean if it was just that she could sing as evan argues, it could have been any of 50 others who impressed a ton more pre-debut

I don't mean to belabor this but you could tell she had something back when I first posted "fingers up" to fader. Obv it's pretty rough around the edges--she can sound a little pitchy, dawg, and it's evident that she's a vehicle for dgainz's song. But there's something of a moral striver in her that's hard to put your finger on ... I think "fingers up" actually captures the attitude better than any of her later songs even, or it's more congruent ... I mean she's from the same chicago as gbe and them but channels all her energy into music as a formal craft of executed gestures, like she's on the school diving team and has to hit the perfect form. like its her only purpose. Its very craft-first, I think a lot of the reason I find the writing about her off putting is so much of it seems to suggest she's some singular auteur who is cultivating a fresh sound when really her whole thing is way less self conscious than that. I guarantee what timbo likes about her is more her willingness to work hard and be shaped around his songs while a bit of her unselfconscious "moral striver" vibe will reflect back on the song and magnify its power...

To get back on topic, Tinashe by contrast feels relatively blank, obv she's got some great songs and I f/w all hands on deck like everybody else but at some level it feels a little "if she didn't exist, a girl In a beanie and timberlands would have to create her"

How is that video yuck though?

the stripper moves are a huge turn-off personally

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, April 8, 2015 5:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Really?

― abcfsk, Wednesday, April 8, 2015 6:25 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

really

tbf Charlamagne is ON one of her singles which if that's payola and not him being genuinely enthusiastic is definitely some new weird payola

i did really like that song, though, first thing of hers that really caught my ear

nvm i guess evan kinda said that

this is strange shit to be arguing

regarding who is or isn't getting attention

Yeah back to the great mixtape

Actual arguments > banal enthusiasms

This is why I pay ilx the big bucks

To get back on topic, Tinashe by contrast feels relatively blank, obv she's got some great songs and I f/w all hands on deck like everybody else but at some level it feels a little "if she didn't exist, a girl In a beanie and timberlands would have to create her"

― deej loaf (D-40), Thursday, April 9, 2015 11:36 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

in my house, i have earned the term "latebloomer." when Ryan first played Aquarius for me, i was like, no. i put her in an Amerie bucket for some reason, i could just never get into Amerie. and then i heard "2 On" on the radio, and the rest was history. her voice has SO much character. And obvs, All Hands on Deck is some of the sickest shit i've ever heard.

like i literally can't stop playing it and am worried about the sanctity of my friendships as a result.

How would you describe that character though?

hmm. she can go hard, she can go soft. she has personality. she has enunciation, and timing. she can go big, she can go small. she has pain in her voice, and she knows how to party. and she also has a zen Jhene Aiko thing working in her favor. lots of things in one package. i think that's what i would say for now.

yeah, I agree with all of those. If anything she's never just one thing and that makes her difficult to pin down (and perhaps sell) I guess.

Weird thing: In DK, 2 On never made it on the big radio channel (we pretty much only have one: public service P3) but Pretend was apparantly a pretty big hit. I like Pretend more than most on this board, but it's still weird.

i don't have problems with anything on the album except How Many Times. Future is just so awful on it. And she really didn't need to mess with Janet.

but xp that is weird

I love Future on How Many Times! What puts you off?

I don't mean to belabor this but you could tell she had something back when I first posted "fingers up" to fader.

lol

tell me I'm wrong though

I love Future on How Many Times! What puts you off?

― longneck, Thursday, April 9, 2015 4:49 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i dunno! i feel like he's just saying "tit" and "bitch" at the end? but maybe i'm just hearing it wrong lol...

xp like i'm saying way more than 'i have been otm in this thread' in that post

yes but

you really can't help yourself can you?

with what? the primary criticism in this thread is 'it makes no sense why people like her, it's fader/fact hype' & my point is that this phenomenon predates all that shit

is it not relevant that my interest predates that?

im just making fun of you for saying "you could tell she had something back when i first posted 'fingers up' to fader" instead of "you could already tell she had something by 'fingers up'" like a normal person

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9t02VH6MC0

@ surm lol i think it's actually worse than that, it's "fuck you like real dick / shit bitch, lick lick" which is all kinda gross but in the context of the song it just paints him as totally obsessed with the sex + wide eyed, going at it double time but still you know there's a connection there, he's immersed, they're in some kind of sync, unlike, say, schoolboy's horrid verse on 2 On where he just goes all out to be gross and idk impress her with it? Yuck. And she kinda comes out on top because she somehow isn't all greed, just reflective lust. So yeah he's gross but it still works for me.

taken en masse, all the male voices on Aquarius are so bad, it almost feels like a misandrist concept album

all the male voices on aquarius vs all the male voices on beyoncé

she likes being alone: reasons

lol. i don't mind the male voices on this but to respond:

@ surm lol i think it's actually worse than that, it's "fuck you like real dick / shit bitch, lick lick" which is all kinda gross but in the context of the song it just paints him as totally obsessed with the sex + wide eyed, going at it double time but still you know there's a connection there, he's immersed, they're in some kind of sync, unlike, say, schoolboy's horrid verse on 2 On where he just goes all out to be gross and idk impress her with it? Yuck. And she kinda comes out on top because she somehow isn't all greed, just reflective lust. So yeah he's gross but it still works for me.

― longneck, Thursday, April 9, 2015 5:31 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what's interesting about this is that apparently How Many Times is the only one that she actually did with the rapper in the studio; all others were emailed

but yeah, "shit bitch, lick lick" is the line that always throws me

xxp popping corn

o sorry that little factoid actually applies only to the singles

Who's doing the licking though? Might as well be him.

she likes being alone: reasons

― j., Thursday, April 9, 2015 12:41 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

exactly. there's a line on Amethyst about seeing a guy and hoping he's not a rapper or a singer (though the internet is trying to tell me that she says "I really hope you're a rapper or a singer" which can't be right) because those dudes are only after one thing. Aquarius is like: here's a bunch of those dudes!

that said I like all three of these songs (agree with Frederik that Pretend is good), I just think it's funny how all the men live down to the expectations of some of the lyrics

she has talked about how it was *very* different for her to work with SO many people on this record

http://www.datpiff.com/Tinashe-Tinashe-Amethyst-Screwed-Slowed-Down-Mafia-mixtape.694609.html

gonna play this back and forth w/ my screwed-n-not-chopped sade mix aaaallll summer long

couldn't get into this album when I found out about it through EOY but put it on on Sunday morning and it was perfect.

that's essentially what happened to me too

i heard Bey or Rihanna coming out of a cigar bar last wknd, and ended up having the DJ put on All Hands on Deck and 2 On while I smoked my first cigar

it was fun

http://pitchfork.com/features/guest-lists/9636-tinashe/

Her tastes are pretty impeccable

I guess?

couldn't get into this album when I found out about it through EOY but put it on on Sunday morning and it was perfect.

For me it wasn't so much "couldn't get into it" as it got overwhelmed by a lot of other more immediate stuff I got in December/January (D'Angelo, Dawn Richard, Sleater-Kinney, etc). So I registered as "nice, worth more exploration," and I finally got back to it on a long drive over the weekend. Now can't stop playing it.

The album seems paced for maximum replay value, since it has a nice mix between immediate hits and songs that take a while to reveal themselves. It also helps that the hits never grow old.

awwww tinash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6fW6daYM6A

<3

Enjoying 'On A Wave' despite there being some Drake on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl2picz7wm8

excited to hear ! my friend just texted me saying she just played "all hands on deck" for her husband -- i have converted her!

There seems to be a high level of retro-nostalgia for classic Aaliyah/Missy jams in Tinashe's music. Obviously that's not really surprising in itself, but the precision of her reenactment of it seems kinda unique to me.

eh as long as she's not sampling their classics in her songs and trying too hard to capitalize on the public goodwill for them (cough Tink cough) i'm fine with Tinashe taking inspiration from that era, her music sounds pretty of the moment to me.

she created a new moment 4 sure. love hearing Missy's name all over the place again tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRC3D1xmo-c

omg i don't think i realized how much legit magnetism and star quality she has

her Kimmel performance last year was crazy too. seems like most new pop/R&B stars think they can only get good as singing OR dancing onstage, it's refreshing to see someone kill at both.

shit i need to watch. i am so glad i finally stopped listening to this album though. like it is definitely forever a standby in my collection now, and i will revisit it soon but. i need a step back.

will nicki + tinashe + rae srem + meek mill + dej loaf be the best show i will ever see y/n?

close call

will nicki + tinashe + rae srem + meek mill + dej loaf be the best show i will ever see y/n?

I'd travel to see this but I'm afraid it'd be one of those shows where all the openers play a combined 35 minutes, if that

so pissed off that nicki's US dates get THAT line-up while we got...trey songz

Swap Trigga for Nicki and the U.S. bill is pretty much my dream lineup tbh

nicki was actually incredible, so much tighter and with a much greater command over her show than her last tour

trey songz exists at a permanent 3/5 level

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXQPDNuOUCo

oh shit

trey songz exists at a permanent 3/5 level

― lex pretend,

you'll piss off j0rdan!

eh i dunno if j0rdan would even say that trey has a 4 star album

thinking of dropping out of life to become one of those people who just replies QUEEN!!!! to a celebrity's IG from now on

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLqUmhHWsAAkDLW.jpg

!

welp I was supposed to see Tinashe last night opening for Nicki but we fucking missed her bcz my friends who I invited at the last minute ran late and then INSISTED we go to a bar first once we got to the venue

and then got inside the venue and INSISTED we wait half an hour in line to get wristbands to drink more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiWSsQ9Godk

friendship over

you like being alone

I would literally kill these people

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CL2kA0zVAAEfMrR.jpg

sigh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63a2mco-qp4

single "Party Favors" out next week

It's obvious she really wants to break through on charts and airplay judging by the interviews saying this album will be less experimental, max martin collab etc. Although that clip doesn't really suggest that. I'm happy with her output this year anyway w the GOAT mixtape, so an album of bangers or whatever else wouldn't be too bad.

still so pissed that my friends fucked up my plans to see her open for Nicki BUT she will inevitably tour for this and I will def go see it even if it means going to another city

https://soundcloud.com/tinashenow/tinashe-party-favors-ft-young-thug

*dies* *goes to heaven*
- oh hi tinashe
*swoons & dies again*

Seriously. This is perfect.

I can't quite place the MIDI riff and it's driving me nuts. Is it from an old video game?

boards of canada on the beat ho

idk how i feel about this, pleased not captivated without knowing what i would have rly wanted

guess as she manifestly has all the strings to her bow you expect perfect execution, so hitting any target squarely whether it's max martin or the twigsy vibez here maybe isn't enough for someone with the rare potential to cut diagonally

communicating her essential unifying trademark on whatever it is she does is the elusive next step, the janet auteur thing i guess, and this seems (kinda perversely) a bit less idiosyncratic and so perhaps a tiny step back from the amethyst ep in that regard

This is alright. I lost interest after a couple minutes, and I heard it twice.

this is kind of depressing as hell

i can't hear this w/o thinking it's abt crystal meth

this is kind of depressing as hell

The execution or the subject matter?

I've had this on repeat since it dropped, lol. I have no idea where all this resistance is coming from.

both, really

yeah. i really like this song but there's a depressive pull to it

'2 on' updated for xans n sprite n concomitant feels isnt really such a shocker business wise

personally aesthetically, sure this song is dull in comparison

prolly there's a couple chopped lines of thinkpiece white on the glass table about how wastedness sits on her as opposed to the predatory boys (illangelo on the credits fyi), is the "loss" of control as egotistic, does the favour presentation seem as manipulative, or is it servile, or equal, or equal for the sake of being equal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-htwnPdp18

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

YES

love

killer

and bless them for making the Chris Brown-free version available

oh thank god i didn't realize there was a version sans feature

listened to the version with chris fuckface and was like "goddamn i guess i just gotta suffer through this like that one pusha t song with a CB book"

otherwise, pretty incredible pop song

Crazy how natural and elegant this song is compared to the clumsy brickhouse EDM songs that R&B singers were putting out four years ago

"player" came on in a car i was in tonight and it sounded like the biggest song in the world

I must need to hear it in the right context. It's cool, but sounds a bit slight to me.

Is there a date for the album release?

"2016"

http://www.thefader.com/2015/10/21/snakehips-tinashe-chance-the-rapper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IltwiyqKhEI

I can't decide if I like "player" or if it's been clinically drawn up in a lab to be a precise approximation of things I like

i think it's good but yet another song that would be fine w/o chris brown and just gets him tacked on for radio play

there's a brown-less version upthread that's a lot better, hopefully the album will just have the solo version (as miguel thankfully did w/"coffee" on wildheart, eschewing that execrable tacked-on-wale version)

breezy verse/presence is trash but whenever i put on the solo i do kinda miss the extra release when they duet on the chorus

maybe shouldve invited future back for more upsetting x-rated tourettes

I like this.

Dump Chris Brown.

there's a non-brown version and it is unsurprisingly quite good.

lol, anybody else want to say that? it's late and i'm tired.

It's srsly gross enough that a woman this young and talented is letting CB on her track that it bears repeating, imo

I mean...the issue is CB on a track is going to get it more attention if they're worried about it flopping, the kid isn't just Teflon he's commercially flourishing

I think the CB-less "Player" is good, but it hasn't really flourished for me on repeated listens. My guess is I'll like it more when the whole album comes out which is what happened to me with 2on

yeah i only liked "feels like vegas" and "pretend" in a noncommittal way until i heard them on aquarius, i find "player" (solo) and "party favors" decent in a similar way but not rhapsodising over them yet

"2 on" was always a standalone banger tho

tinashe came into her own in album format for me too. you kinda gotta dig the *~*~v1B3~*~*

didn't expect "party favors" to click like this but here we are

More party fatigue: Snakehips ft. Tinashe & Chance the Rapper "All My Friends". Massive chorus.

https://open.spotify.com/track/6TaqooOXAEcijL6G1AWS2K

it's catchy but the sentiment is all wrong

That's songs gonna blow up tho

<3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCqKRaXlrYg

her fallon performance was pretty good
http://www.vibe.com/2015/11/tinashe-performs-player-on-the-tonight-show-starring-jimmy-fallon/

Yeah, Party Favors is good. Liking the video.

http://xonecole.com/blurred-lines-tinashe-on-the-limitations-colorism-places-on-black-womens-success/

i'm not sure any human being in the course of history has ever been this cute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVRvDb1DCUk

also very helpful in that i thought her name was pronounced ta-NASH not ta-NAH-shay

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CYi2E-YUkAAK-K-.jpg

"World Tours" seem to come to Scotland less and less frequently

And Ireland

https://soundcloud.com/tinashenow/tinashe-energy-ft-juicy-j-prod-by-mike-will-made-it

But MARYLAND

ray are you in MD these days!?

Another new track:

https://soundcloud.com/tinashenow/tinashe-ride-of-your-life-prod-by-metro-boomin

I'm in Lewisburg, about 2 1/2 hours away, but I get down to MD roughly once per month

That's a nice track

just bought my ticket this morning

"Ride Of Your Life" got me like eh
rediscovering "Bated Breath" got me like [heart eyes emoji]

got tickets to see her in 2 weeks; lookin at the setlist it looks like 2/3 of it is stuff from "Joyride" which is v frustrating bcz I have no way of hearing it first!!

"Bated Breath" came up on shuffle for me the other day, and I was reminded how much I love that track. I hope that even a little bit of her upcoming material skews that way (though I doubt it will).

holy shit she was SO GOOD tonight!! She was giving serious Aaliyah and Janet and voice and moves and style and everything. She is a really, REALLY talented performer. Also she did this weird thing where she played a ton of songs but only played like 2 minutes of each of them? Is this a thing that ppl are doing these days?

Ugh I've got tickets to see her tomorrow night way the hell across town, and the stupid DC metro just decided to shut down for 30 hours. Feelin stymied.

dude get a lyft get a cab get whatever, it will be so worth it i promise you

Spending so much money on shows and cabs this month but, damn, it's hard to resist.

Why is the metro shutting down tho??

Some vague "safety concerns" RE random shit catching on fire. Metro just sucks in general.

she did this weird thing where she played a ton of songs but only played like 2 minutes of each of them? Is this a thing that ppl are doing these days?

i know beyoncé does this a lot, certainly it's happened a lot at rap shows i've attended in the past

but yeah tinashe was super excellent when i last saw her and i want to go see her again, she's coming here in may. but SERIOUSLY WTF IS GOING ON WITH THIS NEW ALBUM?!?!? i mean she's got a worldwide hit now with the snakehips thing just cut the girl some slack and let her drop the record

i've never heard the snakehips song and it's not on her album so i dunno why it would help her. clearly she's trying to get another solo single on the level of "2 On" and that hasn't happened yet.

it's been huge here and also in the UK. feel like if zara and mnek can cross over into the US then surely it's only a matter of time before the snakehips one does

a bunch of tracks leaked this week. leaks and delays, living up to that New Ciara/Cassie status!

really hate the snakehips song

the snakeships song is close to being a hit in the US. it's in the spotify top 50 and was number 1 on the bubbling under chart. it seems fine.

that Snakehips thing is like the worst Mumfordcore direction anyone could go in and I'm glad I've managed to find it easy to distance her from it

lol this song is party-hating Daria-core like Alessia Cara enough that it probably could be big in the US

It's funny bcz so many of her songs are just about how much she loves to drink/smoke/party/whatever

Oh my god, I hate this Snakehips song.

me too

dc did you see her??

stevie, had to sell my ticket; w/ metro down it just wasn't doable :(

livin in regret!

her tour has been cancelled and looks like she is being made to re-record the album :(

What the fucking fuck :(

oh shit i totally did not read between the lines here!! I just assumed she'd gotten behind on the album, not that it was in the can and she's now being made to re-record it. That fucking blows.

yeah, she said on facebook the album was finished but her label rejected it & is demanding new songs for it

goddamn she says she hasn't even seen the cover, either!

i always thought the existence of such a fully-formed, distinctive album as aquarius was something of a miracle for an r&b singer of tinashe's level and it seems we're all being made to pay for it. truly the New Cassie/Ciara

label should just skip this part where they try in desperation to get her one more pop hit and just fast forward to the part where she makes her carly rae jepsen move as a pop star for indie rock fans

ha, Jordan is spot on.

I'm less bummed about this than the rest of the thread, though. As much as I want another Aquarius I want another "2 On," too.

pretty sure Chris Brown is to blame for this.

single 'superlove', out friday

https://www.instagram.com/p/BH0Cu94j1Gm/

oh man i am stoked for this

The new single sounds very Ciara Basic Instinct-esque. I don't know if this is the single to finally launch the album though.

http://popcrush.com/superlove-tinashe-new-song-single-joyride/

listening to this it occurred to me that aside from the 'popcorn' track and the closer from amethyst with the crazy guitars i don't have anything i immediately recall being crazy about by her from say aquarius, i'm just into immersion in the whole album as an experience, so what i'm really hoping for is that the commercial moves don't ruin that on the new one, if it's not going to result in super duper pop smashes.

Good to hear The-Dream back on his game. Yeah I dunno how this squares with the persona she's carved out for herself, but it's light and fun and summery. My guess is she just tucks this at the back of the album (possibly as a bonus track if it bombs)

I don't think it will bomb - at least not any more than any of the other songs she's been trying to push. Feels both weird and good to have a Terius & Tricky song pushing for the charts again though.

i didn't expect tinashe to do a bass track :D

(it will bomb but who cares)

Guess it was overdue for someone to capitalize on the My Boo drum pattern

This sounds like something Rihanna passed on after "Super Bass" hit.

I think throwback is a pretty bad look for her. Aquarius worked in part b/c it paired her with hyper-contemporary collaborators (Boi-1da, Dahi, Mike Will, Mustard, Cashmere Cat), and she even when she was running with the zeitgeist she did something new with it. She loses some of her appeal when she's working with hand-me-downs from old industry vets.

I like this, but I hope it is just a bonus track. Like everyone else mentioned, her first album and mixtapes had great texture to them sound wise. Shame if the album becomes a "throw everything on the wall and hope it sticks" hybrid r&b/pop album.

will be on album apptly

http://www.thefader.com/2016/08/12/tinashe-superlove-video

https://soundcloud.com/championdj/champion-x-tinashe-days-in-the-west

great new single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhM1jAFNmpw

Are those Terius whoops?

Reminds me of her EP which means it's bloomin great.

New album is out!

oh shit!!

not THE new album, just a new mixtape, but still

i wonder if this is the album she wanted to release before her label made her fuck it all up?

I haven't listened to this yet and I am not well-versed in the mixtape world but what would make this not an album?

there is no way this is not the original album

it's not if you say it's not, stevie

manifestation, sigh

ya I just read an article on Noisey that was basically like "a mixtape is an album that people release themselves and aren't trying to market like a proper label release"

i wonder if this is the album she wanted to release before her label made her fuck it all up?

― Fluffy Saint-Bernard (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, November 4, 2016 8:30 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i assume this to be all the R&B tracks she recorded during the JOYRIDE sessions, and her and the label settled releasing them as a ~mixtape~ so her proper album can be more of a pop record (where we'll probably find "superlove" and, more importantly, "player," hopefully without chris brown)

:O

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62-pl6d_rpE

mostly empoweringly drab mood music with the unfortunate jojo quality of making you sympathise with the execs somewhat

hard to think of many capable artistes surviving being this polarized, in fairness

flickers in the last third; 'spacetime' is v cool on that reliable astral b sure tip; 'touch pass' is superb, the perfect elusive tinashe poise

'touch pass' is actually probably p regulation cassie on its own but context gives it ballast

always-underrated amethyst ep now only getting better as artistic statement in retrospect

not underrated by me!!!

low end production, esp in bass drum, seems a little itunes-cruddy on this, but oh well

i like all the ones where she sounds like she is sad and sits in her room

i def like a lot of this but it feels really like a hodge podge of more introspective/odd stuff with attempts to be commercial r&b

this mixtape is very excellent

i love "touch pass" and "ghetto boy" but it felt like i had to sift through a lot of shapelessness to get there

"sympathise with the execs somewhat" otm

so mmmmmmmmmmm this ones a skit mmmmmmm i call it binaural test mmmmmmmmmm basically i mmmmmmmmmm [exec stares at superb cleavage pondering missed lambo repayments]

heyyyy

i apologise for lowering the tone with str8 facts my guy

the thing is that this case makes a pretty clear case for why it was shelved as an album but it's not like the alternative of turning her into 2006-era ciara is working artistically or commercially either so like....

this tape**

i think she prob needs to break up w/ her label and skip to the part where she's the next carly rae jepsen. indie audiences like fka twigs and dev hynes.

if that Far East Movement single is any indication, she has no talent for club bangers either.

have you heard the song "2 on"?

"2 On" does not sound like this Far East Movement track.

I think my biggest problem with this isn't that its all downtempo moody haze ambience but that she does nothing interesting with her voice at all. Like, compared to all the personality on Aquarius' big moments - 2 On, All Hands On Deck, Feels Like Vegas - this is so inconsequential.

Good to hear The-Dream back on his game

I like Superlove but it's such a collection of 2010-11 Terius songwriting tics that it feels like something he could have written in literally minutes.

No interest in the mixtape at all really.

have a cynical suspicion that that only ever got greenlit cos of the running man challenge

Sevyn w/Terius >>> Tinashe w/Terius

this is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the terius that accompanies the "End of R&B in Music" - 2016

Tinashe really needs a forward thinking pop producer - 2 On was peak Mustard, but bringing Terius back just isn't the way to go.
What's becoming painfully obvious is that she only knows how to write two songs: the one where she's waiting for something to happen and the one where she's excited that it's kind of happening or trying to make it happen.

have a cynical suspicion that that only ever got greenlit cos of the running man challenge

― r|t|c, Tuesday, November 8, 2016 3:29 AM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

def

nobody wants to hear songs about things that did happen

yeah that post rly is premier water torture arguing

i just stared at it for a while like whuh... buh...

qualified exception for songs about things that didn't happen

but not from tinashe!!!!

you want a song about stuff that happened? maybe you should check out a little tune called "we didn't start the fire"

If you like super love you'll love tink - wet aquafina

Let me rephrase that. A huge chunk of her songs are either about trying to get off in some way, impatience at not getting there fast enough or flat out frustration when it doesn't happen. It's all there on Aquarius from the great "get ratchet, go dumb then go more dumb then / we can keep it lit, let's roll" until the album ends with an orgasmic thunderstorm. But as her career's been stalling the sense of inertia and frustration has become all the more pervasive, and on Nightride her "and I know how to get there, don't follow me" lines just sound less convincing, with no release in sight.

Thread is way underrating Nightride imo. It sounds beautiful and really opens up and reveals itself after a few listens.

The Terius "Mr. Yeah" coda tacked onto the end of "Company" is pretty unncessary

https://twitter.com/Tinashe/status/827251204681986048

fundraising for the aclu

<3

don't know if it's just finally seeing the video which really brings it to life but I had grossly underestimated how great "Company" is

I mean, it's fine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eB4EGjusrc

i think she prob needs to break up w/ her label and skip to the part where she's the next carly rae jepsen.

She tried taking Jordan's advice but did it wrong :(

This is dire

yes do not listen to this : /

seriously ?

hahahaha wow this is completely nondescript

I feel like this was originally written for Jordin Sparks or something

The secret to appropriating 80s pop is you need to sound like you enjoy 80s pop. She did not get that memo.

The video embed is dead, but I assume this revive was about Flame?

I'm just now listening to it, and I mostly agree with the lukewarm assessment, but that low end is riiiiiich.

I can't remember if I even listened to that^ but the new one is...not bad?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAh7jTAkCKc

youtube telling me that "up next" is Cassie with the message "Don't Play It Safe" is pretty lol

wow i am actually wearing my tinashe shirt rn, what a serendipitous treat

this one is good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS2MW3YIJew

They really need to pin down a date for an album release though. The false starts are becoming extremely tiresome.

Yeah, that's the first one I've liked in a while. If it's a hit, they'll go with it, I guess. If not, false start.

A release date. Still no tracklist but I can't imagine "Flame" actually being on this thing

The wait is over. JOYRIDE 4•13 pic.twitter.com/js2huaHp9k

— TINASHE (@Tinashe) March 16, 2018

that cover art is stunning

midnight!

i am apprehensive

it's...fine. the little dragon collaboration is nice

fine is not fine

Fine is never fine.

Wonder if anybody recognized the irony in naming an album so mechanical and pleasureless Joyride. That effortless airlessness of Aquarius is completely gone; these tracks are all so severe and unflattering. Kind of impressive that she as uncomfortable on the album's forced pop numbers as she does on the overbearing arty stuff, though.

"Salt" is the one song she truly claims as her own, but it just kind of highlights how awkward everything else is.

lol this album is 35 minutes long

almost 37!

but that includes 2:43 worth of intro and interlude filler

i don't know if i can bring myself to listen to it again

At her album release party in New York City, Tinashe performed four songs—all of which had already been released, including “2 On” and “All Hands On Deck,” another single from 2014’s Aquarius. There was little pause between songs; at the end, she said into the microphone, “My album drops at midnight, so go buy that shit.” No further commentary or deeper insight into the album’s creation, despite the fact that the first teaser for the album was released in September of 2015, and those who have stuck by her side have anxiously awaited it.

She recently promoted the album with a performance of “No Drama” on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, where she received a standing ovation. Still, first week sales projections for Joyride are hovering around 20,000 units. Unfortunately for everyone who is still rooting for Tinashe, it appears her time has passed—we can’t wait around forever.

http://www.complex.com/music/2018/04/where-did-tinashe-go-wrong

No further commentary or deeper insight into the album’s creation, despite the fact that the first teaser for the album was released in September of 2015, and those who have stuck by her side have anxiously awaited it.

i loathe sentences like this

that sentence is a mess, but I think the point that she doesn't seem especially passionate about her own album holds

I almost respect her honesty—no point pretending the album was a passion project and the record she'd always dreamed of making when it clearly wasn't—but it's like if she isn't excited about the work how is anybody else supposed to be

Her response to the piece was graceful and personable, but I think the lack of a defense of the music itself speaks volumes

I’m healthy, my bills are paid, my family is happy. Still booking shows, still making art, still minding my business, still hating Donald Trump.... I’m thriving 🙌🏽

— TINASHE (@Tinashe) April 26, 2018

Aquarius is so amazing

Some serious bullshit in this thread about what tinashe needs to be etc, scrub it

What else is good other than this? New to her music

she pretty much only has one good album, is the problem

amethyst ep

yeah it's p much Aquarius and Amethyst i think. Was Black Water good?

https://www.thefader.com/2019/02/19/tinashe-rca-label-dispute-independent

she's split from her label, hopefully this will be good for her after Joyride was such a mess for her and the label

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6nJTmr-ntY

i'd completely missed that she'd released two singles back in July intended to build up to the release of a new album titled Nashe but her label cancelled it after the singles flopped. "Like I Used To" is nice enough though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btpCevsq3Nc

damn that's good

She's back:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zupK28B4Vts

Also feel like sharing an edited tracklist of Joyride a friend made that feel closer to a version she would approve of:

01. Keep Your Eyes On The Road (Intro)
02. Ride Of Your Life [orig. Nightride]
03. Faded Love (ft. Future)
04. Company [orig. Nightride]
05. Ooh La La
06. Superlove
07. No Contest
08. Player (w/o Chris Brown)
09. Party Favors [orig. Nightride]
10. Ain't Good For Ya (Interlude)
11. He Don't Want It
12. Soul Glitch [orig. Nightride]
13. C'Est La Vie [orig. Nightride]
14. Touch Pass [orig. Nightride]

the new song is pretty awesome

this is cool but i wish there was a little more to it

amazing new single. my favourite of hers since aquarius

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAYZkxGkmEY

another good new single, album songs for you is reportedly coming soon

very soon! November 21st!

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/songs-for-you/1487857651

the cover is fab and "die a little bit" is one of my favourite songs of the year, i'm excited

!!!!!!

out

really impressed by it, lots of highlights aside from the lead single: "save room for us", "no better", "stormy weather" - even the g-eazy song is good (though it'd be much better if he was excised)

ooh i didn't realise it was today, i'd just assumed it was the standard album release friday. struggling to understand why g-eazy is on it now that she's independent though

"know better"!!!

This album!

i'm really delighted that this is as good as it is

fantastic album

this is outstanding

Better than Aquarius to my ears, as much as i love 2 On and Cold Sweat, like just two hugely defining songs from the decade at least for me.

revisited Nightride, which never made much of an impression on me, and found that about half of it is excellent and the other half is fairly forgettable. it's a bit too slow and samey in mood so the weaker tracks really work to make it all blend together and i can understand why i never got really into it. there's still plenty to like about it even if it isn't as consistent as Aquarius or Songs for You

"know Better" really is something. she's been through so much shit. this whole album feels freeing. so happy it's great. played through it once so far. can't wait to spend more time with it.

some incredible harmonies and ad-libs on this, what a victory

tempted to agree this is even better than Aquarius

it is

Certainly after 2 spins it is

q: does the first track on this sample "dig" by incubus

well brad if you can't tell me that i don't really know who else i'd ask

This is good.

Apparently that is indeed an incubus sample, or at least I've seen it claimed

I'm addicted to this. amazing.

feels like such a triumph for Tinashe to release this on her own terms and have it go off -- she's one of our very best

also, not to start beef, but if anyone should be calling their musical output MUSIC FOR CARS, it's Tinashe ✌️

i don't feel so warmly toward it as yall but at least i feel alright toward it so far, unlike with joyride (ugh). i guess i feel like her songs have too much tendency to blankness, and something about aquarius balanced that the right way. i would have been delighted to hear more of an amethyst sound, but i guess that's not as compatible with her danciness.

loving this, especially "Life's too Short"!

Really enjoying this. Not sure I'm at >Aquarius level yet, but since I never loved her mixtapes this is way way above expectations. I would like to know why she included another genuinely repulsive male rapper feature on this though

need to listen to this more but it's pretty good on first blush