Maps of Music

Songs for You (2019)

Where the lyrics of Songs for You take you, and where it was really made.

The album was released on a Thursday instead of the industry's usual Friday, a deliberate choice that Tinashe tied to her stance as "not part of the system".

Key places

Recorded in Tinashe's home studio (2019)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Songs for You was recorded in Tinashe's home studio in Los Angeles. She said the choice of a home setting let her bring listeners into her own experience and world, and the point marks the city only. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Songs for You: fourth studio album by American singer Tinashe
• Released 21 November 2019 independently through her own label, Tinashe Music Inc.
• First release after her departure from RCA Records earlier in 2019
• Blends R&B, G-funk, 1980s pop, acoustic arrangements, drum-and-bass and trap-influenced production
• Highlights her versatility and light soprano vocals

Background

• Follows her previous album Joyride (2018)
• After Joyride she began teasing a follow-up mixtape based on her alter-ego, Nashe
• Promotion for Nashe stopped for unknown reasons, and the mixtape was shelved
• Paper described Nashe as a failed course-correction
• Nashe was ultimately scrapped, a turning point in her decision to leave RCA, among other reasons
• Later cited creative differences as a significant factor in her dissatisfaction with the label
• February 2019: then-manager Mike Nazzaro announced her departure from RCA
• Signed a management deal with Roc Nation on 7 November 2019
• October and November 2019: held listening parties for the project in London

Recording

• Includes previously unreleased material from the shelved 2018 Nashe project
• Three Nashe songs reused: Link Up, Feelings and Cash Race, produced by Hitmaka
• New songs written and recorded in her Los Angeles home studio
• She described the home studio as a way of bringing people into her experience and her world
• Drummer's table-drumming rhythm recorded on an iPhone and placed directly into a track

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe on February 6, 1993, in Lexington, Kentucky; raised in Los Angeles area.
• Began career as a child actor, appearing in film and TV from 2000 onward.
• From 2007 to 2011 was a member of girl group the Stunners, founded by Vitamin C.

Career

• Released independent mixtapes In Case We Die (2012), Reverie (2012), and Black Water (2013).
• Signed with RCA Records; debut studio album Aquarius (2014), whose single "2 On" featuring Schoolboy Q was her first Billboard Hot 100 entry.
• Later albums Nightride (2016) and Joyride (2018) followed; left RCA in 2019 and released later albums independently.
• Released Songs for You (2019), 333 (2021), BB/Ang3l (2023), and Quantum Baby (2024).
• "Nasty" (2024) reached number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the US Rhythmic chart; "No Broke Boys" remix reached number 36 in 2025.
• Eighth album Popstar (2026) debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200, her first US top 10 album.
• Known for R&B-tinged pop and alternative R&B, often self-writing and self-producing her work.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics gave the album positive reviews overall
• Metacritic: "generally favorable reviews", weighted average 75 out of 100 from 5 critic scores
• Joshua Bote of Paste praised it as a clear affirmation of Tinashe's renewed independence
• Madeline Roth of MTV News wrote that the album represents Tinashe exercising full creative control for the first time after leaving RCA
• Chris DeVille of Stereogum wrote that the album sounds like freedom, liberated from label meddling
• Chris Taylor of The Line of Best Fit described the album as a "re-debut" that marks a creative reset
• Eric Torres of Pitchfork praised the record as a confident return to form
• Allison Stubblebine of Nylon praised the album for its consistency and versatility
• NME noted that its rapid shifts between genres make it feel "unfocused"

Records

• Reached number 1 on the iTunes Albums chart on the night of its release
• Billboard 200: number 147
• US Independent Albums: number 21
• US Top R&B Albums: number 20

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• MadeinTYO was first placed on the tracklist after being teased at the listening parties, but that collaboration was dropped.
• The album's lead single, Die a Little Bit featuring Ms Banks, came out on 24 October 2019 with a music video directed by C Prinz.
• Hopscotch hides a track called Like Me that starts at 1:53.
• The planned Tour for You was cancelled in May 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Save Room for Us was released on 14 February 2020 as the third single, with an extra remix by Makj.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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