‘I have no plan B’: Tinashe Talks Career & Love Life Growing Up, ‘Nobody wanted to f*ck with me.’

Two years ago, singer Tinashe stepped on the scene with the two hit singles from her debut album “Aquarius,” with Billboard naming the project as one of the  top 10 R & B Albums of the Year. Since then, the 22-year-old was featured as one of Elle’s 2015 Women in Music and released the very catchy track, “Player” featuring Chris Brown. As she prepares to release her second album, “Joyride,” she chats with Complex about family, music and working too hard. Peep some excerpts below.

On how her music reflects who she is as a person:

Everyone wants to think that everything you do is a direct reflection of who you are. It’s not always that deep. I’ve definitely had a particular life that many haven’t. I think that it’s important to share your story but also to be able to find the relatability [in the stories of others]. Because it’s important to me to be able to relate to my fans.

On the effect of having too much time to think affects her: 

I’m not a big fan of downtime. I have too much time to think…That I’m not doing enough. That I’m not good enough. That I’m wasting my time.

On her love life growing up:

Nobody wanted to f*ck with me. As far as the guys go, nobody wanted to like me or date me. They’d talk to me in secret and then at school they’d ignore me. Literally ignore me to my face. And psychologically that messes with you. It makes you feel that you must be genuinely unattractive if this person doesn’t want anyone to know that you even talk. That’s bad.

On the effects of working too hard: 

I was next to dead. Twice a year, I just get violently sick for like two days. You get to the point where you’ve been going so much, nonstop, and it hits you all at once. That’s where I was when you saw me. But you want to keep going; you’re supposed to keep going. It’s not like I have a day off to recover. You try to push through but sometimes you reach a point where there’s no pushing through.

On what she plans to do if music does not work out:

I have no plan B. I’ve set this up so that my entire life is based on this, and if this fails I have nothing else. No career options. No life options. I’ve sacrificed so much for this; failure is so beyond an option. There can only be setbacks. It’ll eventually work because it can’t not work. And it’s never a fully hopeless situation, because I’ll always have some support.

Click here for the full interview.

By –@authorsequaia