Tink is out to change the music industry in the best way possible
Meet Tink: A supremely talented singer/rapper/storyteller from Chicago, Illinois. At just 20 years-old, Tink (born Trinity Home) has the unique ability to serve spitfire rap verses alongside ethereal R&B vocals, fit to make your heart soar.
Even though her debut album is yet to be released, Tink is on the fast track to stardom. Within the last year, Tink performed at SXSW, signed with Timbaland’s Mosley Music Group and collaborated with the likes of Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Jeremih and R&B newcomer, Kelela. As if that were not enough, her 2014 mixtape Winter’s Diary 2: Forever Yours was featured on both RollingStone and Billboard’s top 10 R&B albums of the year.
All of this didn’t transpire overnight, though. Before her recent success, Tink was making mixtapes of her own. In fact, she’s made five mixtapes since 2012, all of which were self produced. “I would have to email and tweet producers, like, ‘Could you please send me some beats? I’m in the studio,’” she told New York Magazine.
These days, Tink is getting her beats delivered in-studio from her super producer, Timbaland. Though the details on her forthcoming album have been kept under wraps, it is, in her words, “very next-level.” Hey, if songs like “Treat Me Like Somebody” and “Tell The Children” are any indication of her album’s sounds, we’re gonna have to agree.
Aside from Tink’s obvious talent and musical sensibilities, she’s one smart lady. In an industry where success is often conflated with expectations of beauty, Tink is beautifully comfortable in her own skin.
“I’m in my own little lane, doing just me,” she told New York Magazine in February. “I’m brown, I don’t have a big ass, my lips are full. I’m not the ideal pop star, not what you see on TV. I look like I could be your best friend. I would rather impress you with my storytelling than with the size of my waist and my hips.” Can we get an AMEN?
Though the music industry’s beauty standards are undoubtedly frustrating, Tink finds the presence of fellow female artists to be empowering.
“People are actually starting to hear [women] for what we’re worth and treat us as equals,” she said. “Females — we go just as hard as the guys, if not harder.”
As hard as Tink may go on her verses, she’s not looking at other female rappers as her adversaries. In fact, she’d prefer to see them as potential collaborators.
“Everybody thinks there has to be one female in charge or they put us in competition so much that we can’t even support each other” she told The Breakfast Club last month. “We’re scared to say, ‘Hey you’re pretty good, jump on my song’ or just reach out.” It’s definitely inspiring to see a young artist who’s not only focused on her own craft, but also in support of other women who are in her field.
Needless to say, we’re excited to see what this kickass performer has cooking in the studio with Timbaland. Although her album released date is TBD, you can indulge in “Treat Me Like Somebody” below:
(Image via)
