Now Playing
Dennis Leupold Tinashe fans have been waiting in earnest for the singer’s forthcoming album, Joyride, to arrive for several years now.
In a recent interview with the U.K.’s The Guardian, she says that it’s been a rough road for her, in part due to what she calls “sexism in the music business.”
“It’s so much easier for male artists, I know it is,” she says.
She also confirms that in 2016, she wrote a Twitter message calling her record label out for promoting former One Direction star Zayn Malik‘s music instead of her own.
She explains, “I sent that message, yeah, that RCA was focused on Zayn? They were! But I have nothing against him; more power to him.”
In the interview, Tinashe also questions why fans apparently feel that there’s only room for one or two major black female singers.
“It’s kind of like sport; people feel like they have to pick a side,” she adds. “There are hundreds of [male] rappers that all look the same, that sound the same, but if you’re a black woman, you’re either Beyoncé or Rihanna.”
Tinashe also admits that she feels at odds with the black community because of her mixed-race background.
She says, “There’s colorism involved in the black community, which is very apparent. Sometimes I feel like I don’t fully fit into the black community; they don’t fully accept me, even though I see myself as a black woman.”
In spite of these setbacks, though, the “Superlove” star says she won’t give up her singing career.
“Things haven’t always gone according to my original plan, but that’s life, and things change,” she says. “I’m never going to stop. I will make music forever.”
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
