Tinashe – Songs For You

[wavey.]

Her PR and RCA is still trash. They simply don't know what to do with her, and it's reflecting heavily with these string of singles.

[Deleted]

Jun 13, 2017 9:34:40 GMT -5 Nick said:

She's getting dragged on Twitter.

In other news, it's Tuesday lol. Getting dragged is nothing new for her. I'm pretty sure she said similar statements in an older interview before (re: the Beyonce/Rihanna stuff) and got dragged for that one too.

I sort of roll my eyes, but sort of don't blame her for (some of) the density. Her own label keeps gassing her up to believe she can be a crossover/pop star, and hasn't sent a song for urban adds since Pretend; urban-only success is not even presented as an option to her, which is why she keeps setting this (frankly, unrealistic) Bey/Ri standard of success instead of recognizing that she could at least pull off a nice Kehlani/Jhene level career. But then they don't market her to pop for real either. They set her up on urban press junkets (when she can get them) and the only award shows she can even get an invite to are BET and Soul Train. They book her the occasional night show slot but the appearances are always spread out, so she isn't able to make a bigger impact with a promo blitz. They don't even understand mixtapes - remember Nightride's last-minute switchout from mixtape to for-sale album that had her looking crazy? Pretty sure that was RCA's idea of giving her a 'release' while also basically letting her know she doesn't even have enough control to decide when to an occasional freebie (which is completely counter-intuitive to the connection T has with her fanbase, and to urban culture in general).

So if RCA can't even figure it out how can I expect Tinashe to? They don't know what they want to do with her (or if they do know, have no clue how to accomplish it), but refuse to drop her, and then she has to go out and do these interviews and just say whatever sounds good or at the very least doesn't piss off the suits so much that they shelve her again.

But honestly, Tinashe is radioactive to urban fans anyway, mostly because of basic stuff like this. She stays saying something that rubs that whole crowd the wrong way and they go ham over it. The fact that this is a regular occurrence says a lot about how dim she is.

If I were her I would put my money where my mouth is and just make a full-on pop album. Her comments wouldn't seem so dumb if she were actually trying to BE pop.

[thezatch]

Jun 13, 2017 11:03:32 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

Jun 13, 2017 9:34:40 GMT -5 Nick said:

She's getting dragged on Twitter.

In other news, it's Tuesday lol. Getting dragged is nothing new for her. I'm pretty sure she said similar statements in an older interview before (re: the Beyonce/Rihanna stuff) and got dragged for that one too.

I sort of roll my eyes, but sort of don't blame her for (some of) the density. Her own label keeps gassing her up to believe she can be a crossover/pop star, and hasn't sent a song for urban adds since Pretend; urban-only success is not even presented as an option to her, which is why she keeps setting this (frankly, unrealistic) Bey/Ri standard of success instead of recognizing that she could at least pull off a nice Kehlani/Jhene level career. But then they don't market her to pop for real either. They set her up on urban press junkets (when she can get them) and the only award shows she can even get an invite to are BET and Soul Train. They book her the occasional night show slot but the appearances are always spread out, so she isn't able to make a bigger impact with a promo blitz. They don't even understand mixtapes - remember Nightride's last-minute switchout from mixtape to for-sale album that had her looking crazy? Pretty sure that was RCA's idea of giving her a 'release' while also basically letting her know she doesn't even have enough control to decide when to an occasional freebie (which is completely counter-intuitive to the connection T has with her fanbase, and to urban culture in general).

So if RCA can't even figure it out how can I expect Tinashe to? They don't know what they want to do with her (or if they do know, have no clue how to accomplish it), but refuse to drop her, and then she has to go out and do these interviews and just say whatever sounds good or at the very least doesn't piss off the suits so much that they shelve her again.

But honestly, Tinashe is radioactive to urban fans anyway, mostly because of basic stuff like this. She stays saying something that rubs that whole crowd the wrong way and they go ham over it. The fact that this is a regular occurrence says a lot about how dim she is.

If I were her I would put my money where my mouth is and just make a full-on pop album. Her comments wouldn't seem so dumb if she were actually trying to BE pop.

YES YES YES to the bolded statement! "Player" is still a BOP, and her feature on Lost Kings' "Quit You" should have been HUGE.

[tinawina]

It's moments like this I really feel for the PR folks. Some of these artists really shouldn't be allowed to talk to the press unless they follow a script. SMH

[tamed09]

Jun 13, 2017 0:07:21 GMT -5 elementd5 said:

She tried it in that article. I mean, cmon. She's marketed herself as a Pop artist, so of course Urban isn't going to play her music (same with Ciara). R&B, without Urban-flavor (Rap/Hip-Hop/Club) hasn't been been major on the Urban format for basically anyone for years. Can't have it both ways.

When Ci has come to play ball, Urban radio has held her down.

[elementd5]

Jun 13, 2017 13:03:35 GMT -5 tamed09 said:

Jun 13, 2017 0:07:21 GMT -5 elementd5 said:

She tried it in that article. I mean, cmon. She's marketed herself as a Pop artist, so of course Urban isn't going to play her music (same with Ciara). R&B, without Urban-flavor (Rap/Hip-Hop/Club) hasn't been been major on the Urban format for basically anyone for years. Can't have it both ways.

When Ci has come to play ball, Urban radio has held her down.

Since R&B/Hip-Hop radio changed almost a decade ago, Urban has supported Ciara when she (and most every other "R&B" singer) produces Urban-flavored singles, yes. "Ride" & "Body Party" are Urban/club bait at its finest ("I Bet," while a more traditional slow jam had the Future controversy propelling it further), in the same vein as Tinashe's own "2 On." No different from Usher's more recent hits with "Lemme See," "I Don't Mind," and "No Limit" or Kelly Rowland's "Motivation," for example. Chris Brown/Trey Songz keep on releasing the same explicit music, and Urban radio eats it right up. That's just the climate of the industry right now.

But when these artists won't accept that or try to release "crossover" material, it just hasn't worked.

[offsir]

Jun 13, 2017 10:00:54 GMT -5 elementd5 said:

Jun 13, 2017 9:34:40 GMT -5 Nick said:

She's getting dragged on Twitter.

Cause her argument made no sense whatsoever.

You do understand that she wasn't speaking about music when she said she don't feel like she was accepted  in the black community right? That was based on growing up.

[offsir]

Jun 13, 2017 12:33:23 GMT -5 tinawina said:

It's moments like this I really feel for the PR folks. Some of these artists really shouldn't be allowed to talk to the press unless they follow a script. SMH

Did u even read the interview what she said was taking wayyy out of context and everyone just went along with a headline.

[offsir]

Jun 13, 2017 11:28:16 GMT -5 thezatch said:

Jun 13, 2017 11:03:32 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

In other news, it's Tuesday lol. Getting dragged is nothing new for her. I'm pretty sure she said similar statements in an older interview before (re: the Beyonce/Rihanna stuff) and got dragged for that one too.

I sort of roll my eyes, but sort of don't blame her for (some of) the density. Her own label keeps gassing her up to believe she can be a crossover/pop star, and hasn't sent a song for urban adds since Pretend; urban-only success is not even presented as an option to her, which is why she keeps setting this (frankly, unrealistic) Bey/Ri standard of success instead of recognizing that she could at least pull off a nice Kehlani/Jhene level career. But then they don't market her to pop for real either. They set her up on urban press junkets (when she can get them) and the only award shows she can even get an invite to are BET and Soul Train. They book her the occasional night show slot but the appearances are always spread out, so she isn't able to make a bigger impact with a promo blitz. They don't even understand mixtapes - remember Nightride's last-minute switchout from mixtape to for-sale album that had her looking crazy? Pretty sure that was RCA's idea of giving her a 'release' while also basically letting her know she doesn't even have enough control to decide when to an occasional freebie (which is completely counter-intuitive to the connection T has with her fanbase, and to urban culture in general).

So if RCA can't even figure it out how can I expect Tinashe to? They don't know what they want to do with her (or if they do know, have no clue how to accomplish it), but refuse to drop her, and then she has to go out and do these interviews and just say whatever sounds good or at the very least doesn't piss off the suits so much that they shelve her again.

But honestly, Tinashe is radioactive to urban fans anyway, mostly because of basic stuff like this. She stays saying something that rubs that whole crowd the wrong way and they go ham over it. The fact that this is a regular occurrence says a lot about how dim she is.

If I were her I would put my money where my mouth is and just make a full-on pop album. Her comments wouldn't seem so dumb if she were actually trying to BE pop.

YES YES YES to the bolded statement! "Player" is still a BOP, and her feature on Lost Kings' "Quit You" should have been HUGE.

I will RCA and Mike r piss poor and clueless but tinashe didn't say anything wrong if people read the entire interview and no time did she say that she blames the black community for her stalled career or being light skin holds her back and the way black twitter reacted over nothing is why she feels she isnt accepted and she is correct after what saw today.

[nightshade]

Honestly, Tinashe has so much musical talent she could probably succeed in any genre of music.
Her bread & butter is definitely r&b however if she did some true pop songs I'm sure they'd smash. Flame isn't it though. It's honestly something I'd hear Kelly Clarkson sing and not in a good way.

[Deleted]

Well, Flame is a poor attempt at being "r&b-tinged" pop that should have been left in the debut-Leona Lewis recycle bin where they found it. The Kaskade remix is really good though, it has the energy that the original sorely lacks.

Tinashe would come out so much better if she/RCA would just rethink who she is trying to sell herself to. This is why I say the repeated draggings she gets from black twitter/LSA types show how dim she is - they do the same shit whenever Halsey mentions her racial background in an interview - but whether Tinashe is right or wrong for it, the fact that she has been saying the same thing over and over again and gets flamed for it every time should indicate to her that she is barking up the wrong tree. Not every audience is an audience worth winning over.

It's a bit like Nicki expecting urban fans to respect her for her pop numbers. Urban fans don't care how you're doing on pop - that's only relevant to people who are into pop charts. And that's where Tinashe slips up, this interview in particular. She is upset because she doesn't get accepted by the urban crowd because of her racial background, but then she caps the interview by calling herself a pop artist. So why should she care what the urban crowd thinks of her? For that matter, why is she even conflating her experience as a biracial woman with her poor sales? If she wants to be an urban artist then ok, that makes sense; r&b/hip-hop is still very strongly associated with black music fans (which is problematic on its own, but I digress), and the refusal to accept her simply for not being "black enough" is a hurdle or ignorance that needs to be tackled. If she just wants to vent about her experience as a biracial woman in America, also cool. But if T is going to declare herself pop, these are two separate issues that didn't need to be mentioned in the same sentence. Black twitter being its usual black twitter self is not what is stopping her from getting a co-sign from the likes of Z100.

[Deleted]

Okay so cause you and your team can't get your s**t together and find a cohesive approach you gonna try it with black people. Newsflash chick it ain't about colorism or you being biracial. Black folks love and adore Mariah Carey cause she is quality and she don't whine. Step your game up and stop chasing pop fans who don't want you. Focus on yourself .

Everyone wants Beyonce level status with Lauryn Hills work ethic. Give her another couple of weeks she will find something new to bitch about and complain is holding her back. Accountability is a wonderful thing try that.

[Deleted]

I'm... confused. When did the narrative shift from Tinashe being obviously frustrated with her label and wanting to push forward with Urban material to she and her label are delusional and think pop success is the only success? Bruh.

[Deleted]

It’s Not the Blacks, Tinashe, It’s You
www.theroot.com/its-not-the-blacks-tinashe-its-you-1796097304

[Deleted]

Jun 16, 2017 21:32:39 GMT -5 @touch said:

I'm... confused. When did the narrative shift from Tinashe being obviously frustrated with her label and wanting to push forward with Urban material to she and her label are delusional and think pop success is the only success? Bruh.

I don't think the narrative even shifted much from the first part of your question, which makes it even messier.

I think T shows her true hand whenever she tries to force music out (the Party Favors leak, Nightride). RCA always finds a way to fuck it up somehow (completely ignoring PF in favor of rush-releasing Player, switching Nightride from mixtape as originally announced to a for-sale album, but then not even pretending to regard it as a promotable album) and then there's Superlove and Flame...I get the feeling that calling herself a pop artist is yet another attempt at accepting whatever it is the label wants her to be just to get an album out. But every r&b-tinged pop attempt she has made has failed, so I don't know why she or RCA think that's still the ticket.

[Ling-Ling]

These artists and their labels, I swear they're living in a fantasy. It's damn near impossible to be a cross-over star these days. Pop isn't playing r&b-lite unless it's by a huge white artist. And Urban isn't going to play r&b-lite anyway. Unless it's attached to a HUGE name. How many artists are consistently slaying both Urban and Pop, Rihanna and Drake? And even they have mixed results at Pop. You're either going to be an Urban artist or you're going to be a Pop artist, that's just the name of the game right now, she needs to pick a f**king lane. And that whole double A-side approach is hard to pull off and is rarely successful. Her label is clearly leaning towards Pop, but they're not releasing hit Pop material. I mean, I like all of her singles so far, but they wouldn't be a hit for anyone, let alone an unknown. And then they just throw them out there with maybe a video and no other promo. I understand she's frustrated, but she's totally missing the mark on who to blame.

Radio is so f**ked right now, so she and her label need to deal with the card that's being dealt and make a damn decision. I think she'd be better off making some amazing Urban material (which she's capable of), building a base, doing some high profile features in between and waiting for the musical landscape at Pop to change to where it's more Urban friendly and striking while it's hot. Also, she needs to venture into acting more. Say hey to Janelle Monae, she saw there was no where at radio for her and is getting those checks elsewhere.

[Sir Benji]

Jun 16, 2017 22:27:35 GMT -5 @pma2015 said:

It’s Not the Blacks, Tinashe, It’s You
www.theroot.com/its-not-the-blacks-tinashe-its-you-1796097304

I stopped reading after they referred to Ciara as a negro Kylie Minogue

[wavey.]

Jun 17, 2017 11:07:20 GMT -5 Sir Benji said:

Jun 16, 2017 22:27:35 GMT -5 @pma2015 said:

It’s Not the Blacks, Tinashe, It’s You
www.theroot.com/its-not-the-blacks-tinashe-its-you-1796097304

I stopped reading after they referred to Ciara as a negro Kylie Minogue

Lord, you saved me a click.🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[Ling-Ling]

Yeah, even when I was reading it, I was like DAMN. What in the world did Ciara do to deserve that. Ciara, much like Tinashe is in such a tough spot as an artist, finding a path forward for her next album is going to be a struggle with the state of radio.

[Deleted]

Tinashe has talent she just needs to save her complaining to the people who care. Last thing you want to be known for is your constant whining. Now what she needs is a team that can help her focus on her brand. There is nothing coherent about what she does.

Also the article was rather harsh to Ciara but I didn't see it as harsh just truthful. While I don't agree with what he said his overall assessment was facts.

"Ciara is a multiplatinum artist with numerous No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 in addition to a slew of R&B hits. Ciara is no longer the Ciara she was a decade ago because she stopped doing the kind of music that made her famous in order to pursue her odd goal of becoming Negro Kylie Minogue. Her ex-fiance, and the father of her first son, Future, may have hurt her personally, but he, along with Mike Will Made It, gave her her biggest hit in years with “Body Party.”

She answered that success by running to Dr. Luke to start flopping again. These days, she’s running around like a black Kardashian; she appears to like being famous more than she enjoys being the star she used to be. Whatever works for her.

So no one pushed Ciara away; she ejected herself. There is a difference between properly contextualizing one’s struggles and creating excuses for the sake of perpetuating victimhood. Tinashe toed the line, explaining how hard it is for black women to break through in the modern era, but she went over it when she started to portray herself as a victim, at the expense of the black people she once claimed to want to represent.

On her mixed heritage and its role in her career struggles, Tinashe said:

There’s colourism involved in the black community, which is very apparent. It’s about trying to find a balance where I’m a mixed woman, and sometimes I feel like I don’t fully fit into the black community; they don’t fully accept me, even though I see myself as a black woman. That disconnect is confusing sometimes. I am what I am.
Funny enough, I doubt most people even know that Tinashe is mixed. Most people don’t know anything about her besides “2 On.” And again, her name is Tinashe. Beloved, we’ve all clocked in on your blackness"

[tinawina]

Jun 13, 2017 23:44:57 GMT -5 offsir said:

Jun 13, 2017 12:33:23 GMT -5 tinawina said:

It's moments like this I really feel for the PR folks. Some of these artists really shouldn't be allowed to talk to the press unless they follow a script. SMH

Did u even read the interview what she said was taking wayyy out of context and everyone just went along with a headline.

Nah I read it. The problem with a pretty light skinned woman in entertainment complaining about colorism, is that SHE'S A PRETTY LIGHT SKINNED WOMAN IN ENTERTAINMENT. In her field she is the definition of the peak of privilege for black women. No one wants to hear her complain about the very thing that gives her a heads up, it doesn't matter whether she's blaming her record sales for that or not.

That's like Gwenyth Paltrow complaining how hard it is to get ahead as an actress when it is so connections and looks driven, and then talking about how mean the girls in her prep school used to be to her growing up because her parents were Hollywood stars and they were so jealous. LOL. wait, what? You just turned being a connected weathly skinny attractive blonde into victimhood? GTFO. Things suck for women in acting, and maybe you did get bullied when young, but you are on top of the food chain for all the reasons you are complaining about.

Anyway, she's talented but I absolutely agree she needs to play to the market. Pop radio does not want her or anyone like her right now. Go back to her early mixtape sound and build from there.

[think pink.]

I never understood the argument with Ciara ditching her core and that's why she started to flop...She started to flop with "Fantasy Ride" and that was an all Urban album. Followed up by Basic Instinct and Ciara....Jackie is where she started to dabble more into Pop.

But that's a topic for her thread I guess lol.

[Glove Slap]

Jun 17, 2017 13:37:45 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

Yeah, even when I was reading it, I was like DAMN. What in the world did Ciara do to deserve that.

More like what did Kylie do to get dragged down like 50 levels to be compared to someone who couldn't even resuscitate their career to the point of 2 consecutive hits with their core audience after they hid the skids the first time around.

...I just skimmed the article though and had to go back to even notice that part tbh.

I do agree with the consensus that Tinashe & her team need to pick a lane and just go fully for it. If you want to be Pop, find good pop songs and push them hard. They shouldn't have let Player not hitting deter them if they're that gung-ho about that direction. They were also idiots for not pushing AMF regardless of backstage drama especially since it actually had some kind of momentum from elsewhere. Another frustrating thing is that the current downbeat mood of CHR is actually a good ground for her to mine if she comes with the proper material. When it picks up again, I can only assume that she'll be putting out uptempo dance songs if she's still signed and getting more backlash (or just lash I guess) from Urban blogs and outlets.

On the other hand, if she wants to target Urban, they should be pushing her material there, which they haven't done in over two years by now. There is no reason Company shouldn't have gotten a major push at that format, it had so much potential, as did a number of tracks on Nightride (Touch Pass also comes to mind immediately).

[divasummer]

She was "supposed" to be at this weekends annual "Kiss Concert" here in Boston.
She was scheduled to perform.
My friends daughter won a meet and greet with her but she didn't show up so she got to meet Flo Rida instead.
I think she was actually happier about that but she missed some of one act perform and it was VERY rushed because it was supposed to be Tinashe.
I think flo Rida stepped up/in because of it. He seems like a nice guy.

[Ivy Leegue™]

Sooo sorry that your friend's daughter had to settle for Flo Rida instead of Tinashe. I hope she was able to get at least that portion of her money back!

[George]

She's coming to San Diego Pride next month, and there's a M&G VIP package for her...but it's $400.

The other headliners, En Vogue, also have a M&G VIP package, but for only $350.

[offsir]

Jun 19, 2017 18:54:26 GMT -5 George said:

She's coming to San Diego Pride next month, and there's a M&G VIP package for her...but it's $400.

The other headliners, En Vogue, also have a M&G VIP package, but for only $350.

400 bucks u have to pay to meet another human being? lol no hate get your bag  tinashe  why is her M&G that high?

[Deleted]

I think she should drop Joyride really soon and make a break and rediscover herself.
It could do wonders if you come back with something amazing.
Sometimes I think she doesn't have a clear picture of herself.
She had a clearer vision of her music back in the Mixtape days.
The leaked "Joyride" songs from early 2016 aren't that great.

[offsir]

Jul 1, 2017 3:50:13 GMT -5 @nostalgic said:

I think she should drop Joyride really soon and make a break and rediscover herself.
It could do wonders if you come back with something amazing.
Sometimes I think she doesn't have a clear picture of herself.
She had a clearer vision of her music back in the Mixtape days.
The leaked "Joyride" songs from early 2016 aren't that great.

She has no control power when the joyride is released no artist on a major does.But does need to figure out what her brand is.

[Ty]

www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/sweetie-im-just-here-for-the-comments?utm_term=.jhjden3dA&ref=mobile_share#.ul7ngDrnz

28 Songs That Shouldn't Have Flopped But Straight People Exist

3. Tinashe's entire music career.
It's a literal gay nightmare that Tinashe hasn't *happened* yet.