Tinashe’s ‘Guardian’ Interview: Rihanna’s Team Took ‘Joyride’ Song, Talks Black Colorism, Ciara And Beyonce

Tinashe Kachingwe is a singer who might sound familiar to those who don’t know Tinashe and confuse her with Christian rapper Tedashii by taking a look at Tinashe’s “All Hands On Deck” video from 2014, as seen below. However, Tinashe is causing a buzz on Twitter with Tinashe’s name being a trending item after her Guardian interview caught the attention of social media.

As reported by Guardian, Tinashe’s “Joyride” has stalled, along with her career, as the “Joyride” album sits still unreleased in the year and a half since Tinashe’s label announced it. Tinashe doesn’t let that negativity bother her, reports Guardian, as she sipped tea and spoke to the journalist about things not necessarily going the way she planned them. Tinashe chalked that fact up to the way life can meander along, and eventually change in one’s favor. Tinashe told the publication that she isn’t going to give up on her dream and will always make music.

Tinashe highlighted that positivity by keeping a photo of a Grammy on her phone as her background image until she can change it with a photo of Tinashe holding her own Grammy. But those passages aren’t the ones gaining Tinashe buzz and backlash on Twitter.

The 24-year-old Tinashe’s name is being combined with terms like “colorism” and “Ciara” on Twitter, mainly due to Tinashe’s comment on those topics. The daughter of a Zimbabwean-immigrant dad and a Danish mother, Tinashe also spoke about sexism in the music industry, along with colorism.

Tinashe also noted that her music was held up because RCA was focused on Zayn Malik and his new solo career, as reported by Guardian.

Tinashe also feels there’s room for people to become fans of as many black or multi-racial artists as they want. Folks can love Kehlani as much as Tinashe, who found it weird that as a black woman, she might be categorized as either Beyonce or Rihanna when there are many male rappers who look similar.

Ciara was a name offered by the interviewer as a black female artist who put out bangers in her own right but didn’t hit the heights she could have because Beyonce and Rihanna might have taken up that alleged zero-sum game space. Tinashe agreed that there was room for as many black or mixed-race heritage females as the music game could hold, with Tinashe noting the role colorism played in her life.

“There’s colourism involved in the black community, which is very apparent. It’s about trying to find a balance where I’m a mixed woman, and sometimes I feel like I don’t fully fit into the black community; they don’t fully accept me, even though I see myself as a black woman. That disconnect is confusing sometimes. I am what I am.”

Tinashe also confirmed that Rihanna or her team took the title song from “Joyride” before it was returned.

Tinashe is getting plenty of feedback on social media, including comments from people who assume that Tinashe was blaming the black community, or Ciara, Beyonce, and Rihanna, for her failure to launch into superstardom. However, others who have actually read Tinashe’s Guardian interview are defending Tinashe’s words.

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]