Songs for You

Songs for You the fourth studio album by American singer Tinashe, released independently through her own label Tinashe Music Inc. on November 21, 2019. It is the first project since her departure from RCA Records in February 2019. The project features collaborations with MAKJ, Ms Banks, 6LACK, and G-Eazy. The album has received positive reviews, with publications praising her creativity, production and songwriting, as well as for releasing music independently.[2][3]

Songs for You
Studio album by Tinashe
Released	November 21, 2019
Recorded	June 2018 – October 2019
Studio	Tinashe's home studio (Los Angeles)
Genre	R&B dance-pop trap[1]
Length	52:50
Label	Tinashe Music
Producer	Tinashe (exec.) BongoByTheWay Boston Darion Javon Go Grizzly Hit-Boy Hitmaka KINGDOM Killah B Makj Myles Morgan Oliver Malcolm Oz Poo Beatz Connor McDonough Smash David Styalz Fuego Todd Prichard Trackside Turn Me Up Josh Wax Motif
Tinashe chronology
Joyride (2018) Songs for You (2019) Comfort & Joy (2020)
Singles from Songs for You
"Die a Little Bit" Released: October 24, 2019 "Touch & Go" Released: November 7, 2019 "So Much Better" Released: November 21, 2019 "Stormy Weather" Released: December 27, 2019 "Save Room For Us" Released: February 14, 2020

Background

After Tinashe's previous album Joyride was released, she started recording her follow-up mixtape. The mixtape was based on Tinashe's alter-ego, "Nashe". Both Tinashe and Hitmaka, an executive producer on the mixtape, promoted Nashe through snippets of songs from the track list.[4] Further promotion continued with its singles, Like I Used To and Throw a Fit, both of which used the mixtape's artwork.[5][6] Promotion for Nashe ceased without reason;[7] however, speculation arose after Tinashe posted a screenshot on Instagram of a page error from RCA's website with a broken heart as the caption to the post.[8] According to Hitmaka, the mixtape was shelved.[9] The cancellation of Nashe, described as a "failed course-correction" by PAPER, became a turning point in her decision to depart from RCA, among other reasons.[10] In February 2019, Tinashe's then-manager Mike Nazzaro announced her departure from RCA, citing: "We initiated for her to be released. It was a positive split for her. It's giving her back creative control." After her departure, HotNewHipHop published an article reporting that she was in the midst of a bidding war with multiple major labels. Tinashe would eventually sign a management deal with Roc Nation on November 7, 2019.[11] Her new team includes Roc Nation's artist management Simonne Solitro.

Songs For You features three songs — "Link Up", "Feelings", and "Cash Race" — originally intended for Tinashe's 2018 summer project Nashe, produced by Hitmaka. MadeinTYO was originally featured on the tracklist after it was teased throughout the listening parties, but the collaboration was scrapped after the producer gave the beat to another artist.[12]

Recording

The album was recorded in Tinashe's home studio in Los Angeles. She considered her home studio as the location for the album recording as "[bringing] people into my experience, my world," and added, "I think that already set the tone for [the album], like 'OK, this is gonna be really real. This is gonna be raw.' It was truly me and that was all I was bringing to the studio, my emotions."[13]

Release and promotion

On September 30, 2019, Tinashe announced the project along with a trailer on YouTube. Between October and November 2019, she held listening parties for her project in London, Los Angeles and New York, and stated during the parties that Songs For You is her most vulnerable project to date. In an interview with Hip Hop Mike, she stated her direction for the album as, "a real experience that they could really sink their teeth into. There are a few moments that are in your feels. I had to really open myself up. It’s the most vulnerable project I’ve ever put out."[13]

The album was released on November 21, 2019 on a Thursday instead of the music industry's customary releases of Friday. Tinashe stated in an interview with Billboard that she wanted to emphasize her stance in the music industry as "not part of the system".[12] The album topped the iTunes Albums chart on the night of its release; the album reached the number 1 spot in multiple countries including the US, making her the first independent artist to do so since Frank Ocean's 2016 album Blonde topped the chart.[14][10]

Singles

The first single, "Die a Little Bit" featuring Ms Banks, was released as the lead single from Songs for You on October 24, 2019, with an accompanying music video directed by C Prinz. The second single, "Touch & Go" featuring 6LACK, was released on November 7, 2019. "So Much Better" featuring G-Eazy was released as the third single on November 21, 2019, alongside its music video directed by Mynxii White. "Stormy Weather" was released as fourth single on December 27, 2019 with the release of an accompanied video. "Save Room for Us" featuring MAKJ was made the fifth and final single on February 14, 2020 with the release of an accompanying video, and an additional remix by MAKJ himself. An acoustic video for album track, "Remember When", was released on April 21, 2020.

From June 26, 2020 to July 10, 2020, a remix of a song from the album would be released each Friday. "Hopscotch" with American R&B duo THEY., "Die a Little Bit" featuring Ms Banks, with producer ZHU and "Touch & Go" featuring 6LACK, with producer TARRO were released respectively a week apart from each other. All remixes came with their own accompanied short visual.

Tour

In February 2020, Tinashe announced her Tour for You in support of the album.[15][16] Within one week, half of the dates were sold out.[17][18] Additional tour dates were added in the United States in late February.[19]

The Phoenix venue was moved from the Crescent Ballroom to The Van Buren due to high demand.[17] On April 1, 2020, Tinashe announced the postponement of the tour, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[20]

Scheduled tour dates

List of scheduled tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America[15][16][17]
April 20, 2020	Detroit	United States	Saint Andrews Hall
April 21, 2020	Chicago		House of Blues Chicago
April 22, 2020	Pittsburgh		Spirit Hall
April 23, 2020	Silver Spring		The Fillmore
April 24, 2020	Boston		Blue Night Live
April 25, 2020	Philadelphia		Theatre of Living Arts
April 26, 2020	Brooklyn		Warsaw
April 27, 2020	New York City		Gramercy Theatre
April 29, 2020	Toronto	Canada	Danforth Music Hall
May 9, 2020	Denver	United States	Summit Music Hall
May 11, 2020	Houston		House of Blues Houston
May 12, 2020			House of Blues Dallas
May 15, 2020	Phoenix		The Van Buren
May 16, 2020	Los Angeles		The Belasco Theatre
May 17, 2020	San Diego		Observatory North Park
May 18, 2020	Santa Ana		Observatory
May 19, 2020	San Francisco		August Hall
May 22, 2020	Vancouver	Canada	Commodore Ballroom
May 23, 2020	Seattle	United States	Neptune Theatre
May 27, 2020	Fort Lauderdale		TBA
May 28, 2020	Orlando		TBA
May 29, 2020	Atlanta		TBA
May 30, 2020	Charlotte		TBA
May 31, 2020	Raleigh		TBA
June 2, 2020	New Orleans		TBA

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[21]
Review scores
Source	Rating
HotNewHipHop	81%[22]
The Line of Best Fit	8/10[23]
Rolling Stone	[24]
NME	[25]
Paste	7.9/10[26]
Pitchfork	7.7/10[27]

Songs for You received positive reviews from music critics. Stereogum's Chris DeVille regarded the album as sonically "[feeling] like freedom. Liberated from label meddling, she has assembled a fine reminder of what made her to likeable in the first place," and compares the overall sound for the album as "the vibe is that of an extremely talented R&B artist getting back to cooking after a deep, cleansing exhale."[28]

Madeline Roth from MTV describes Songs for You as "Tinashe taking full creative control over her work; something she was finally able to do [...] The result, it seems, is music that comes straight from the soul."[29]

Nylon's Allison Stubblebine said that "Tinashe is the R&B superstar we've been looking for, and now that her first-ever independent album Songs For You has dropped, it's time to throw it on repeat and give her the praise she deserves. There's not a single bad song on the record: Concluding at 51 minutes, the 15-track release showcases everything Tinashe does best."[30]

Year-end lists

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Revolt	Top 9 R&B Projects of 2019	5	[31]
HipHopDX	The Best R&B Albums Of 2019	6	[32]
Tracklist	15 Best International Albums of the 2019	13	[33]
Rated R&B	The 30 Best R&B Albums of 2019	23	[34]
Complex	The Best Albums of 2019	45	[35]
The Fader	The 100 Best Songs of 2020 (Save Room For Us)	43	[36]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Apple Music and Tidal.[37][38]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Feelings"	Tinashe London Jae Landstrip Chip	Hitmaka Hit-Boy Smash David	3:06
2.	"Life's Too Short"	Tinashe	Kingdom	3:11
3.	"Hopscotch"	Tinashe Alec King	Boston Killah B	3:11
4.	"Stormy Weather"	Tinashe	Oliver Malcolm Todd Pritchard	3:10
5.	"Save Room for Us" (featuring MAKJ)	Tinashe Max Levin Mackenzie Johnson Riley McDonough	Makj Connor McDonough	2:45
6.	"Story of Us"	Tinashe DeLaney Harter	Oz Ambezza E.Y	2:45
7.	"Die a Little Bit" (featuring Ms Banks)	Tinashe Parrish Warrington Ms Banks Rook Monroe Vaughn Elsas	Trackside	2:45
8.	"Perfect Crime"	Tinashe Thulani Kachingwe Kudzai Kachingwe Styalz Fuego	Stylaz Fuego Wax Motif	2:56
9.	"Cash Race"	Tinashe Go Grizzly London Jae Tariq Beats Turn Me Up Josh Pooh Beatz Landstrip Chip Mayila Lorenzo Chatmon Timothy Michael Wells, Jr. Quinton Lamar Cook	Hitmaka Go Grizzly Poo Beatz Tariq Beats Musik MajorX Turn Me Up Josh	4:34
10.	"Link Up"	Hitmaka Chrishan Tinashe London Jae Smash David Landstrip Chip	Smash David Hitmaka	3:28
11.	"Touch & Go" (with 6LACK)	Tinashe Dimitri McDowell Elliott Trent Lisa Scinta DeLaney Harter Ricardo Valentine	Tony Fadd Killah B	4:15
12.	"Know Better"	Tinashe Gabrielle Nowee	Killah B Bongo	6:57
13.	"You (Interlude)"	Tinashe	Tinashe	0:06
14.	"So Much Better" (with G-Eazy)	Tinashe Gerald Gillum	Myles Morgan Malcolm Prichard	4:50
15.	"Remember When"	Tinashe	Darion Jovan	3:50
Total length:				52:50

Notes

• "Link Up" contains a section called "Naked" starting at 2:08
• "Cash Race" contains a section called "All Eyes On Me" starting at 1:38
• "Know Better" contains a hidden track called "Did You Notice?" starting at 2:53 [39]
• "So Much Better" contains resung lyrics from "Midnight Sun", written and performed by Tinashe.[40][41]

Charts

Chart (2019-2020)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[42]	147
US Top R&B Albums (Billboard)[43]	20
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[44]	21

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Various	21 November 2019	CD digital download streaming	Tinashe Music	[45]
	27 March 2020	Vinyl		[46]

References

1. "Tinashe: Songs for You Album Review". Pitchfork. December 4, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2020. Songs for You feels effortless, drifting between subterranean trap, airy dance-pop, and R&B ballads.
2. Roth, Madeline. "Tinashe Takes Control On Her Genre-Hopping New Album Songs For You". MTV News. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
3. "Tinashe's 'Songs For You' Is Your Next Favorite Album". NYLON. 2019-11-21. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
4. Kreps, Daniel (July 13, 2018). "Hear Tinashe Unload on Ex on New Single 'Like I Used To'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
5. Rincón, Alessandra (July 13, 2018). "Tinashe Is 'On a Wave' With Surprise Track 'Like I Used To': Listen". Billboard. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
6. Pimentel, Julia (July 27, 2018). "Tinashe Brings Out Her Spicy Alter Ego on 'Throw A Fit'". Complex. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
7. Renshaw, David (21 November 2019). "Tinashe shares Songs For You". The FADER. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
8. "Tinashe's Trials And Tribulations In The Music Industry". Lindah Kiyeng Communications. August 9, 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
9. Caraan, Sophie (21 November 2019). "Tinashe Is Creatively Rejuvenated in New Album 'Songs for You'". HYPEBEAST. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
10. x Michael, Michael (22 November 2019). "Tinashe Is Under New Management: Her Own". PAPER. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
11. "Tinashe Signs With Roc Nation Management". Vibe. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
12. Saponara, Michael (21 November 2019). "Finally Free: Tinashe is Leaving Her Label Issues in the Past & Making the Music She Loves". Billboard. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
13. "Stream Tinashe's New Album 'Songs for You'". Rap-Up. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
14. "#SONGSFORYOU by @Tinashe reaches #1 on iTunes USA!". MusicNewsFact. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
15. Saponara, Michael (22 May 2020). "Tinashe Will Embark on a Tour For You: See the New Dates". Billboard. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
16. Caraan, Sophie (22 May 2020). "Tinashe Announces 'Tour For You' North America Dates". HYPEBEAST. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
17. "All these Songs For You, baby on Instagram: "Half the shows are completely sold out already 😻😻😻😻..." Instagram. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
18. Saponara, Michael (11 February 2020). "How Tinashe Toed the Line Between 'Sexy & Classy' on Her G-Eazy Collaboration". Billboard. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
19. "Guess what y'all! We're adding a southern leg of #TourForYou! Fan club tix on sale today, GA available Friday.I CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS pic.twitter.com/WPH8S75WS5". @Tinashe. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
20. "All these Songs For You, baby on Instagram: "Soooo saaaaaaaad to finally announce this, but I've been stalling, hoping for a different outcome..." Instagram. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
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22. Lyons, Patrick (November 26, 2019). "Tinashe "Songs for You" (Review)". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
23. Taylor, Chris (November 28, 2019). "Tinashe's Songs For You is infectious, supremely confident R&B". The Line Of Best Fit. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
24. "Songs For You by Tinashe review - Rolling Stone Review". Metacritic. January 14, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
25. Hobbs, Thomas (November 29, 2019). "Tinashe – 'Songs For You' review: underrated pop star hopscotches from one sound to the next". NME. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
26. Bote, Joshua (November 26, 2019). "Tinashe Finds Success on Her Own Terms on Songs For You". Paste Magazine. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
27. "Tinashe, Songs for You". Pitchfork. December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
28. DeVille, Chris (November 21, 2019). "Tinashe Takes Matters Into Her Own Hands". Stereogum. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
29. Roth, Madeline (November 21, 2019). "Tinashe Takes Control On Her Genre-Hopping New Album Songs For You". MTV News. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
30. Stubblebine, Allison (November 21, 2019). "Tinashe's 'Songs For You' Is Your Next Favorite Album". Nylon Magazine. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
31. "9 top R&B projects of 2019". Revolt TV. December 28, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
32. "The Best R&B Albums Of 2019". HipHopDX. December 18, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
33. "s 15 melhores álbuns internacionais de 2019". Tracklist MTV. December 23, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
34. "The 30 Best R&B Albums of 2019". Rated R&B. December 26, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
35. "The Best Albums of 2019". Complex. December 3, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
36. "The 100 Best Songs of 2020". The Fader. December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
37. "Songs for You by Tinashe on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
38. "Try the TIDAL Web Player". listen.tidal.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
39. Aldridge, Darryle (29 November 2019). "Tinashe is at her most free on 'Songs For You'". The Cavalier Daily. The State News. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
40. "it just felt right... haha also I wanted it to be a cool Easter egg for OG fans". @tinashe. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
41. Brissett, Danielle. "Tinashe Releases Seductive Visual for 'So Much Better' Featuring G-Eazy". ratedrnb.com. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
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43. ""Tinashe Chart History (Top R&B Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
44. "Tinashe Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
45. "Songs For You". Retrieved 17 February 2020.
46. "Tinashe's 'Joyride' on Vinyl". March 27, 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.