Los Angeles, CA · R&B · pop

Tinashe

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Criminally consistent R&B auteur — 'Nasty' finally made the world match her freak, a decade of underrated catalog now vindicated.

Tinashe Kachingwe was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and moved to Pasadena, California, as a child before settling in Los Angeles. Her parents are college professors: her father, a Zimbabwean immigrant, teaches acting, and her mother teaches physical therapy. Her name means 'we have God' in the Shona language.

She trained in ballet, tap and jazz from age four, competing in dance until she was 18, and worked as a child actor, appearing in a motion-capture role in The Polar Express, a regular part on Out of Jimmy's Head and a recurring role on Two and a Half Men. From 2007 to 2011 she was a member of the group the Stunners.

After the Stunners disbanded, she released a series of self-made mixtapes, including In Case We Die, Reverie and Black Water, that established her sound: airy, layered vocals over sparse, bass-heavy production sitting between R&B, pop and electronic music. Her 2014 major-label debut single, '2 On,' featuring Schoolboy Q, reached number 24 on the Hot 100 and led her debut album, Aquarius, to number 17 on the Billboard 200.

Her following albums, Nightride and Joyride, charted lower before she left her major label. Since then she has released music independently, including Songs for You, 333, BB/Ang3l and Quantum Baby, a run that includes the widely praised single 'Nasty,' which went viral and gave her a first solo entry on the Hot 100. A remix of her song 'No Broke Boys' with Disco Lines reached international dance charts.

Her live shows draw on her dance background, and her catalogue is often cited as an influence on the alternative R&B of the past decade. She has an eighth album, Popstar, preceded by the singles 'Too Easy,' 'Crash Out' and 'Melatonin.'

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