Tinashe is having a moment. The singer has been dropping acclaimed albums for over a decade, but her latest single, "Nasty," has exploded. It's spread like wildfire on TikTok, and recently cracked the Billboard Hot 100. This marks the first time Tinashe has landed a pop hit as a solo artist, and to make things even better, she managed to do it as an independent artist. "Nasty" was released through the Tinashe Music label. She's thrilled by the song's success and the reaction of her former label.
Tinashe, who left RCA Records in 2019, told TMZ that her ex-label is "gagging" over the success of her new single. "Nasty" has continued to gain traction since its release in April. This is not the first time Tinashe has thrown shade at RCA Records, either. During a 2023 appearance on the Zach Sang Show, the R&B singer claimed she was forced to do collabs against her will. To make matters worse, they were often with artists who were over the hill, like R. Kelly. "I literally block out that R. Kelly song from my mind," she told the host. "I forget that it even exists. That is so embarrassing. That is so unreal that I even have a song with R. Kelly. That’s so embarrassing."
Tinashe Claimed RCA Is "Gagging" Over Her Success
Tinashe was also reluctant to do a song with Chris Brown. "He was their biggest artist that they had on rhythmic radio at the time," she recalled. "To me, I was like, 'Well, this is a pop song. So, I really don’t feel like we should put Chris on it.' That doesn’t compute to me, but I don’t know." Tinashe's instincts proved to be correct. Chris Brown wound up dissing her by asking IG users to "name five Tinashe songs." The singer did admit that the independent grind has not been easy, though.
In a recent interview with Polyester, Tinashe detailed the effort that goes into releasing her own music. "I have to keep it 100 with people," she explained. "It is not easy being independent. To find enough money to be able to fund the things you want to create, putting together a live show, or making a music video. Those things cost a lot of money and to be able to maintain that on your own is very hard." Fortunately, the singer's hard work has paid off. She scored her biggest hit in a decade, and she recently performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
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