There are musicians and artists who can claim some experience in the world of show business, some from a relatively early age. Tinashe arguably trumps all of them, having been consistently modelling, acting and studying ballet, tap and jazz dance forms since the age of three.
She cut short her time at the Crescenta Valley High School in Los Angeles to focus on music full time. Vitamin C, the “Graduation (Friends Forever)” singer formed The Stunners when Tinashe was 14 and they were signed to Columbia six months later. The group released one E.P, toured with Justin Bieber and were going to record an album when they split in 2011.
The same year, Tinashe gave her first ever televised singing performance, in front of a live crowd of 57,000 at a baseball game and soon after that she signed with Universal records. If all this is sounding a little too Disney Princess for you, her first solo E.P, entitled “In Case We Die” cryptically enough, was recorded entirely herself in her home studio and saw comparisons to the likes of Frank Ocean and The Weeknd.
Since then her march to take over the world has taken her to the upper reaches of the Billboard charts, her single “2 On” peaked at number 24 on the Hot 100 and her debut album “Aquarius” went straight in at number 17 on the album charts.
The second single from that album, “Pretend” saw her working with A$AP Rocky and with that, it became clear that it’s only a matter of time before she becomes something of a legend. She is the perfect link between pop accessibility and the artist's touch of a true auteur. Join her for the ride and you will never forget it.
Watching a live show, it’s great when the artist is a great performer as well as musician, and that’s why watching Tinashe was one of my favourite performances I’ve seen. She’s a phenomenal dancer, and her opening dance break to her drummers solo was a perfect and exhilarating way to start the show. She got the audience dancing along with her and as soon as she was passed a microphone, she thanked everyone for being there and introduces her band and even her dancers.
She opened the set by performing 2 On, where she got everyone to sing along wit her, and also created a back and fourth rap dialogue, where she would shout ‘I say 2, you say On’, and the audience would respond to her song. It was awesome to be involved with the show like that right from the beginning, and the atmosphere and her dedication to the audience remained sky high throughout the show.
She played through what seemed like almost the entirety of her new studio album pre release, and said that we were the first audience to hear it live, which was incredible. It was one of those shows that I’m never going to forget, the combination of the new material, incredible dancing, and spot on vocals was something I’ve never experienced before.