Songs For You (album)

Songs for You is the fourth studio album by American singer Tinashe, released independently through her own label Tinashe Music Inc. on November 21, 2019. It is the first project since her departure from RCA Records in February 2019. The project features collaborations with Ms Banks, 6LACK, and G-Eazy. he project was first announced on September 30th, 2020; a trailer was released alongside this revelation.
==Background==
After Tinashe's previous album Joyride was released, she started recording her follow-up mixtape. The mixtape was based on Tinashe's alter-ego, Nashe. Both Tinashe and Hitmaka, an executive producer on the mixtape, promoted Nashe through snippets of songs from the track list. Further promotion continued with its singles, "Like I Used To" and "Throw a Fit", both of which used the mixtape's artwork. Promotion for Nashe ceased without reason; however, speculation arose after Tinashe posted a screenshot on Instagram of a page error from RCA's website with a broken heart as the caption to the post. According to Hitmaka, the mixtape was shelved. The cancellation of Nashe, described as a "failed course-correction" by Paper, became a turning point in her decision to depart from RCA, among other reasons. In February 2019, Tinashe's then-manager Mike Nazzaro announced her departure from RCA, citing: "We initiated for her to be released. It was a positive split for her. It's giving her back creative control." After her departure, HotNewHipHop.com published an article reporting that she was in the midst of a bidding war with multiple major labels. Tinashe would eventually sign a management deal with Roc Nation on November 7, 2019. Her new team includes Roc Nation's artist management Simonne Solitro.
==Recording==
The album was recorded in Tinashe's home studio in Los Angeles. She considered her home studio as the location for the album recording as "[bringing] people into my experience, my world," and added, "I think that already set the tone for [the album], like 'OK, this is gonna be really real. This is gonna be raw.' It was truly me and that was all I was bringing to the studio, my emotions."
==Release and promo==
On September 30, 2019, Tinashe announced the project along with a trailer on YouTube. Between October and November 2019, she held listening parties for her project in London, Los Angeles and New York, and stated during the parties that Songs for You is her most vulnerable project to date. In an interview with Hip Hop Mike, she stated her direction for the album as, "a real experience that they could really sink their teeth into. There are a few moments that are in your feels. I had to really open myself up. It’s the most vulnerable project I’ve ever put out." The album was released on November 21, 2019 on a Thursday instead of the music industry's customary releases of Friday. Tinashe stated in an interview with Billboard that she wanted to emphasize her stance in the music industry as "not part of the system". The album topped the iTunes Albums chart on the night of its release; the album reached the number 1 spot in multiple countries including the US, making her the first independent artist to do so since Frank Ocean's 2016 album Blonde topped the chart.
=== Singles===
The first single, "Die a Little Bit" featuring Ms Banks, was released as the lead single from Songs for You on October 24, 2019. The second single, "Touch & Go" featuring 6lack, was released on November 7, 2019. "So Much Better" featuring G-Eazy was released as the third single on November 21, 2019. "Stormy Weather" was released as fourth single on December 27, 2019. "Save Room for Us" was made the fifth and final single on February 14, 2020. An acoustic video for album track, "Remember When", was released on April 21, 2020. From June 26, 2020 to July 10, 2020, a remix of a song from the album would be released each Friday. "Hopscotch" with American R&B duo THEY., "Die a Little Bit" featuring Ms Banks, with producer Zhu and "Touch & Go" featuring 6lack, with producer TARRO were released respectively a week apart from each other. All remixes came with their own accompanied short visual.
==Tracklist==
No.	Title 	Writer(s) 	Producer(s) 	Length
1. 	Feelings 	Landstrip Chip, London Jae & Tinashe	Smash David, Hit-Boy & Hitmaka	
2. 	Life's Too Short	Tinashe 	Kingdom 	
3. 	Hopscotch 	Alec King & Tinashe 	Boston (producer) & Killah B 	
==Trivia==
*"Hopscotch" contains a hidden track called "Like Me" starting at 1:53.
*"Cash Race" contains a hidden track called "All Eyes On Me" starting at 1:38.
*"Link Up" contains a hidden track called "Naked" starting at 2:08.
*"Know Better" contains a hidden track called "Did You Notice?" starting at 2:53.
*"So Much Better" contains a hidden track called "Soul Food" starting at 2:50 and resung lyrics from "Midnight Sun", written by Tinashe, Craig Balmoris and Julian Nixon.
*"Link Up", "Feelings", and "Cash Race" was originally intended to be on Tinashe's 2018 summer project "Nashe"
** The project was produced by Tinashe and Hitmaka but was cancelled by RCA (her label) after the commercial failure of its two lead singles. Hitmaka confirmed this on August 5th, 2018.
*Tinashe held listening parties in London, Los Angeles and New York. She stated during the parties that Songs for You is her most vulnerable project to date.
Category:Albums