Update: Tinashe has responded to some of the comments on Twitter, describing her conversation with Guardian as taken out of context. She noted that her comments on colorism were more related to her experiences growing up than as a musician.
I was not talking about colorism in the industry. This is taken out of context.
— TINASHE (@Tinashe) June 13, 2017
The article framed it as such, about success in music, where as the conversation we had was about my experiences growing up in general.
— TINASHE (@Tinashe) June 13, 2017
Read the original story below.
R&B singer Tinashe is receiving heat on social media today for comments she made in a recent interview about the challenges of being mixed race.
“There’s colorism involved in the black community, which is very apparent,” she said in an interview with Guardian. “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.”
She also noted that there is less room in the business for women in general, noting there’s a tendency to classify women as either “a Beyoncé or a Rihanna,” meanwhile there are tons of male rappers who share a similar appearance.
Those who are upset by the comments have argued that Tinashe’s issues are not about color as much as a lack of talent and an ability to generate buzz. As well, some thought she had been poorly managed by RCA, as evidenced by editorials (like the one featuring her licking a tiny toilet) that cast her in an odd light.
There’s a little bit of truth in what everyone is saying. To Tinashe’s point, there’s hardly any room within r&b for women in the first place and the business simply doesn’t know how to position an artist that is neither black nor white, and that’s in part because audiences who embrace ambiguity (aka don’t find licking tiny toilets weird) don’t make up a big part of the population.
As for comments that she lacks the chops to make it, well, once again, it’s a very crowded space and Tinashe is hardly the only r&b singer who’s career seems stuck in second gear. Case in point, Forbes 100 highest paid entertainers published yesterday (June 12, 2017) included just three singers who are women of color: Beyoncé, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez.
