I have been saying for years that pop and R&B artist Tinashe deserves more recognition, and I think that time has finally come. She’s a triple threat: a multi-talented singer, actress, and dancer with enough charisma for several people. Yet, she has flown under the radar for around 10 years now. She has had a few prior songs reach major mainstream success, like her 2014 hit “2 On” featuring ScHoolboy Q, and the bittersweet party song “All My Friends” with Snakehips and Chance the Rapper, released in 2015. However, it seems that her recent song “Nasty” has given her the final push to finally break through the glass ceiling.
Tinashe was initially a child actress, having been part of projects such as The Polar Express, Cartoon Network’s Out of Jimmy’s Head, Two and a Half Men, several Holly Hobbie films, and more. She was then part of the five-piece girl group The Stunners, notably alongside fellow pop artist Hayley Kiyoko. The Stunners were only together for about four years before going their separate ways. This led Tinashe to pursue a solo singing career, in which she wrote and produced her own songs in the beginning, including her mixtape In Case We Die. She then signed with RCA Records and released another mixtape, Reverie, before coming out with her debut full length album, Aquarius, in October 2014. Unfortunately, the next few years with RCA were a little rocky, as her next album, Joyride, kept going through delays and changes spanning almost three years. Tinashe eventually left and joined Roc Nation in 2019, as well as Nice Life Recording Company in 2023, and has spent years since then trying to reclaim her career and make music on her terms. All of that hard work is now paying off, and Tinashe is where she is meant to be. While talking to Variety in May, Tinashe said, “I definitely think that everything that I’ve done up to now, all those grinding it out moments where I just had my head down and was just putting out the best music I could and being really consistent and making great visuals and things like that, it’s all led up to this.”
Less than a year ago, Tinashe released the first of a three-part project titled BB/ANG3L and unveiled the second part this past week, named Quantum Baby, which consists of eight songs. Track one is “No Simulation," which features beautiful harmonies similar to the interludes on her previous albums. The song provides a minimalistic and heavenly introduction to the album before leading into the next track.
“Getting No Sleep” is both the second song on the record as well as the second single. Produced by Nosaj Thing and Billy Lemos, “Getting No Sleep” contains hushed, fast-paced vocals and a soothing post-chorus. The music video continues the story from the “Nasty” music video where Tinashe is being hunted by some unidentified ships and escapes to a bar, where she discovers a clone of herself.
“Thirsty” is a slower song on the R&B side with an echoey intro, a whispered chorus, and suggestive lyrics. At 3 minutes and 40 seconds, this song is the longest on the album and appears to be one of Tinashe’s favorites, as she couldn’t hide her excitement when previewing the song during a livestream. During the preview, she also described the song as having “Nightride vibes,” which was her second album released in 2016.
The term “red flag” has become increasingly prominent on the internet in the last few years, with people separating good and bad traits by labeling them as a green flag or a red flag (sometimes a beige flag for in between). “Red Flags” by Tinashe has her going back and forth on the status of her relationship because of these red flags and has her singing, “When I see your face, you remind me of my mistakes / I don't wanna stay, don't wanna go.”
“Cross That Line” is a song that stuck out on this album—but in a good way. It has Tinashe looking more towards her future and settling down instead of being in a casual relationship. With airy vocals, Tinashe sings that she’s ready to cross that metaphorical line and potentially start a family with who she thinks is “the love of [her] life.”
Similar to “Getting No Sleep” and “Thirsty,” “When I Get You Alone” is another suggestive (and fan-favorite) song. It also features the lyric “You can only call me ‘Nashe if you nasty as me,” which is a reference to the tagline that Tinashe has been using for years and an homage to her idol, Janet Jackson’s 1986 song “Nasty.”
“No Broke Boys” is a carefree, energetic track that sounds like it could have been on Aquarius. You could tell that Tinashe enjoyed recording this one as you can hear multiple layers of laughter at the end of the song. During the song, Tinashe sings, “I’m out here single, and I need somethin’ real... No broke boys, no new friends.”
Lastly, Quantum Baby closes out with “Nasty,” which to say has gone viral would be an understatement. Between the dance videos and the countless memes, the song has been used for so many videos and is still going strong as of August 2024. Tinashe has also released remixes with Chlöe, Tyga, and several DJs, including Kaytranada, whom she has worked with in the past. She also got a nice surprise when Janet Jackson performed a mash-up of both artists’ respective “Nasty” songs a few months ago.
Upon the album’s release, Tinashe shared some concept art and explained a little bit about the album in the caption: “Tonight we enter the world of QUANTUM BABY, part 2 of the 3 part project. Like the Quantum Paradox, at my deepest, most essential core level are so many mysteries and contradictions. Bridging the gap between confidence and vulnerability is the human experience & my favorite kind of art. See you at midnight.”
Ten days prior, Tinashe also announced the Match My Freak World Tour with opener Raveena, starting with just North American dates. The Australia, EU, UK, and Asia dates are set to be announced soon, and hopefully so will more details about the last part of the BB/ANG3L project.
