“Give you some’ to talk about.”
Artist Tinashe, a triple threat from Lexington, Kentucky, just released her seventh studio album, Quantum Baby. The album rollout started strong with a trending single titled “Nasty” which has officially replaced her mainstream debut “2 On (feat. ScHoolboy Q)” as her most popular song on Spotify. She is ready to “Cross That Line” dividing genres by blending pop enunciations with R&B driven beats, and it’s a hard freak to match.
“Nasty” came with its very own Match My Freak EP: eight “Nasty” remixes with the help of artists like KAYTRANADA, Tyga, Chlöe and more. Each version corresponds with a play-on-words reference according to its musical twist. “Nasty – Match My Peak Remix” is a club classic featuring EDM artist Wuki, while “Nasty – Match My Heat” channels tropical house featuring the Nigerian-American DJ Tunez.
Quantum Baby opens with an acapella choral layering of harmonies — the perfect display of Tinashe’s vocal range, power and flow. Its title, “No Simulation,” compares illusion and truth using lyrical punches; “These days I wanna feel it, no simulation. It’s gonna be true / I’m looking for truth, love is truth.”
Her truth is tested in track four “Red Flags” where she winds up “believ[ing] the lies” and “ignoring the signs” of an untruthful love. The background synth pulses like an ambient alarm clock, just as hypnotic as a toxic relationship that blinds every sense. The pulse remains constant for the entire two minutes and nine seconds, leaving the dynamic changes to the vocals.
Tracks five and six confront listeners with a battle between love and lust. “Cross That Line” is a groovy side-step, snap-along love song about taking chances, being vulnerable, and celebrating the possibility of being the love of someone’s life. “When I Get You Alone,” on the other hand, is a trap-style, falsetto baby about what happens behind closed doors.
The album also has its singles anthem called “No Broke Boys.” Early in the song she samples her laughter, hinting at an unserious confidence boosting track to come. All is true, she is “out here single” with higher standards than before and one less problem — “Just as I suspected, no one really gets over me / I’m unaffected.” Learning to be unphased by broke boys and love teases, Tinashe reveals an underlying desire for “something real.” This theme comes to light throughout the project as a whole.
Her upright self-respect goes hand in hand with treating herself to fun; as seen in the song “Getting No Sleep,” a pre-released single from the summer that followed the blow up of “Nasty.” Its sunken beats are some of the most memorable on the album, and its vibes are high like a Friday night, “Flick me up, I’m fitted up / Taking shots like I’m Lindsay.” When days start to look the same up close, at a quantum level, Tinashe knows how to turn them into a “movie scene every time.”
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