Tinashe Covers ‘Dazed’ Magazine

Tinashe Covers ‘Dazed’ Magazine.

 

DAZED slayed this Tinashe cover shoot and photo spread. Instead of the doing the ordinary with the singer, they completely showed her off in a new light with the images.

“I don’t feel the need to be super-conservative in my choices or be a typical ‘role model’. I think I can influence girls to be independent – how to make their own decisions, how to go after their goals and not just sit around waiting to get married,” says Tinashe about her image.

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Photos by Sean+Seng | Styling by Robbie Spencer | Story by Colleen Nika | Tinashe wears Gucci Spring 2016 On Cover

DAZED x TINASHE COVER STORY: Written by Colleen Nika

It’s a woozily hot afternoon in Los Angeles, and in the midst of hunting for tour toiletries at the mall, burgeoning pop sensation Tinashe has just revealed her unlikely interest in the paranormal.

“Wanna see my ghost hunting photos?” she asks.

“Of course,” I say.

Within seconds, she opens a folder on her iPhone, revealing photos taken at a 13th-century French castle where she captured images of mysterious orbs – reputed in folklore to be angels or pure spiritual energy – and broadcast them to her thousands of fans on Snapchat. The supernatural, it turns out, is a bit of a fixation for Tinashe. We conspire over this unlikely mutual interest, musing over what it all means. We agree that, when it comes to this – and most anything else – possibilities are more interesting than proof. “It’s just a lot of fun to think about!” she concludes.

It’s this delight in the small, strange things that keeps the 22-year-old singer, producer and performer both fascinating and completely unpredictable. While the latest pop generation are children of 90s and early millennial R&B, they have yet to produce a mystical, shapeshifting chanteuse of their own – a Janet, Sade or Aaliyah, or even a Ciara, who feels like a veteran despite only recently turning 30. Heading into 2016, Tinashe is primed to fill this void, with a sound that fuses 20th century pop ambition with an eclectic approach that’s unimpeachably modern. Like fellow post-internet innovators FKA twigs and Grimes, Tinashe doesn’t rely on others to make the music she wants, as proven on four primarily self-produced mixtapes that have earned her acclaim and next-big-thing buzz.

Last year, Tinashe set her ambitions higher, pairing her moody future-soul with trap and dance-pop for her full-length debut album, Aquarius, released on RCA Records. Packed with thugged-out talent like Future, Schoolboy Q, Mike WiLL Made-It and DJ Mustard, the record was a critical favourite and well-rounded pop starter kit, boasting insulin-boosting singles like “2 On” and “All Hands on Deck”. But on forthcoming album Joyride, she raises the stakes still further, leaving behind her niche darling status and daring you to see her as a TRL-level icon of the Tumblr era. Primed for stardom since toddlerhood, the spotlight is hers to take.

A few hours earlier, Tinashe was at KIIS-FM – the west coast’s #1 Top 40 station, and a musical walk of fame in its own right. It’s situated discreetly in an impressively manicured complex near Burbank. A Topless Maids van is parked across the street in front of an anonymous ranch, the type of benign smut that endures nostalgically through LA. Tinashe arrives in a black crop top and high-waisted HLZBLZ pants in a grid pattern, joined by her manager, Mike. She’s here to do an interview to promote “Player”, her new single featuring Chris Brown, before heading to South America to open for Katy Perry. She gives me a hug, then bolts straight into action, reading off station greetings, making goofy intros (“Ryan Seacrest is not dishwasher-safe!”), and breezing through a quick interview with JoJo, the station’s veteran pop DJ.

After hugging a small fleet of people goodbye (it’s the LA way, I learn), we pile into her car, a sleek black Audi she tells me she’s owned since she was 18. Make-up and a plastic bag filled with travel-sized toothpastes spill over in the front passenger seat as I attempt to get in. “Sorry, I was just at the dentist,” she laughs, flashing a conspicuously bright smile as she hops in. In six-inch spiked Givenchy heels, she hits the gas and we head out for the freeway. “We’re going to the Galleria,” she says. Clueless achievement unlocked.