Tinashe's 'Third Eye' Has Emerged On New Album: "I'm In Alignment & Feel Empowered"

Coming off of a collaborative Sports Illustrated cover with Megan Thee Stallion, Tinashe is saying "no more" to playing small, and using her newfound freedom (a word she coins as a theme for 2021) to break out and finally get the damn respect she deserves. And she's not letting being independent get in the way of any of that.

"It's worth it to take the risk if it's at the point where [your current label] is affecting your mental health. I've seen so many cases of people not going after what they feel in their heart because they maybe have creative differences with their record label. It's hard with recording contracts obviously, but I think how you can empower yourself is by taking control of your creativity and remembering your purpose as a creative and why you do what you do."

And according to Tinashe, her spirituality has infiltrated her creative purpose. 

"I am absolutely into angel numbers. My spirituality was something I was focused on during lockdown while I was creating this project. I wanted to incorporate those themes. It was important for me to feel guided and that I was on the right path. [Becoming independent] has been extremely rewarding, especially spiritually and emotionally in terms of how I view myself as a creative. I feel a lot more empowered now and more confident in my decisions. Following those instincts is really valuable to me."

And "instincts" are exactly what led her to feature her two younger brothers on the album, who go by stage names KUDZAI and Quiet Child. She adds:

"This album is high energy, hopeful, exciting and experimental. It's taking risks, which I love."

Tinashe's newfound glow is a testament to her artistry's freedom in many ways. It's amazing how too many opinions can stifle creativity. And it's not that labels aren't useful to some, but damn, they sure do make it hard to see why. But now that our girl is solo dolo, she's flaunting a happiness and a confidence that possibly could have been missing on her previous album, which she admitted could have been better. She told Zane Lowe of Apple Music:

"I think that with that album it was a process, because I had a kind of disagreement in terms of what that album looked like. I think I went into it with all the excitement, coming out of my debut album and wanting to explore all these sounds and it took three years for that project to come out. It's painful."

She continued:

"The struggle of wanting to release a body of work, and then not really feeling the support within your community and just kind of questioning why that is, it led me down a path of feeling like I had to kind of fulfill an obligation to that project, as oppose to really digging deep and finding the joy within the music. So I think that's what makes that album feel a little bit stale. That era for me was very frustrating."

Go offff, sis! 333 is available on Apple Music and all streaming platforms.

Watch "Bouncin" (her favorite track on the album) below: