Tinashe addressed colorism in anew interview with The Guardian. The mixed race artist said she's been dealing with it for her whole life.
"There's colorism involved in the black community, which is very apparent," she said. "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."Later in the interview, Tinashe said that when it comes to black female singers, some fans will unnecessarily choose sides.
"Recently, my cousin was with a friend of a friend, who was in high school and she was like, 'I'm a fan of Kehlani but in a way that was like, 'So I can't be a fan of Tinashe too.' Then my friend posed the question 'Why not be a fan of both?' ... People feel like they have to pick a side ... There are hundreds of [male] rappers that all look the same, that sound the same but if you're a black woman, you're either Beyoncé or Rihanna. It's very, very strange."After the singer's interview hit the Internet, she started trending, and a bunch of folks went in on Twitter. You can see some of those reactions below.
Tinashe: My new song.. I'm already exhausted over this Tinashe convo and afternoon shift twitter hasn't even hit. Lordy pic.twitter.com/xtheiyLHlH The Tinashe I like vs the Tinashe they keep pushing on us pic.twitter.com/CwF3RUQ0zI I don't even think most people knew Tinashe was mixed. Her name is Tinashe. Girl, we clocked in on your Blackness. Dear Tinashe, It's not a colorism issue. That fact is, we just don't see it for u sis. Sincerely, Everybody pic.twitter.com/nDuUJ8SyXB Bey and Rih have monstrous work ethic and crafted expert teams for themselves. Tinashe is SHOOK that being cute was not enough. https://t.co/taTb8dsVfg Tinashe thinks artists are limited to Bey and Rihanna when they fought HARD for their spots and are constantly rebranding themselves Tinashe's remarks about colorism were dense. I wish she had used that time to talk about her privilege as a light skinned, mixed woman. I won't sit here and let y'all drag Tinashe as if she doesn't give 150% all of the time. While most artist give 30%. I WON'T! pic.twitter.com/rsdyUpBnnG Tinashe JUST came on the music scene like 2 or 3 years ago. Like girl, you gone have to WORK to get at least half where bey is. pic.twitter.com/QQ5Hkba7qo I just never bought into Tinashe. She's sweet, and has decent songs... I just don't see it for her. Serial killer: "Name another Tinashe song apart from 2 On or you die" yall babygirl said nothing wrong lmao. yall don't read. https://t.co/xTUAw8Jvx4