It’s been almost ten years since Tinashe’s debut album Aquarius put her on the radar of anyone who’s partial to a murky alternative R&B song. As she celebrates the release of her sixth studio album BB/ANG3L, which drops on Friday, Sept. 8, this is something she looks back on. “I think I've grown up a lot since Aquarius and I’m just making whatever feels instinctual and trying not to overthink it,” she tells NYLON. “But when I listen to those songs, they’re still so relevant to my life now and what I'm going through.” This, she says is a testament to the repeating cycles in our lives and the fact that, even though we grow and our perspectives may change, “who we are at a core stays the same.” Her new album is about cutting right to that core.
Following her recent single releases, “Talk To Me Nice” and “Needs,” Tinashe looks at the BB/ANG3L album as a way for fans to get to know her on a more personal level. That’s why she shot the “Needs” music video in a grocery store. “I wanted it to be intimate and feel a bit more day-to-day, in a way,” she says, noting that she doesn’t usually enjoy food shopping but has always had a fantasy of “running amuck” in a supermarket when it’s closed. “This album has a very personal approach. It doesn’t feel performative or like there's a lot of extras. It’s just really down to the raw emotion.”
Before she embarks on her upcoming North American tour (where she is co-headling with Shygirl in October and November), Tinashe took on the NYLON 19 in celebration of the new album — where she gets into her ghost-hunting adventures, her love of cheese, and keeping the confetti from her first concert.