I am a little bummed that Snakehips dropped off of the Tinashe tour, but that is only because that was the only thing giving me assurance that Tinashe would play “All My Friends”. I bet Tinashe will still play it, however, and what does Snakehips really do in that song anyway?
It doesn’t matter who is opening for Tinashe, because she is fire. Everything she does is fire. In fact, I am concerned for anyone around her except for Bernie Sanders because he is the only one who knows how to deal with the Bern. Tinashe is Left-eye in my hopefully hypothetic recreation of TLC consisting of Dej Loaf as T-Boz and Kehlani as Chili. The first reason she made this team of All Stars is her dance moves. At a similar caliber to Kehlani, who is in the elite with Chris Brown (a.k.a. the devil) and Elijah Blake. Dancing in hip hop is just as important as the music, and if you can do both like any of the aforementioned artists, you are Golden. Except for Chris Brown. He is still human garbage. But Tinashe is the front runner of these artists right now and she isn’t going to slow down anytime soon.
With features from A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Chance the Rapper, and Young Thug, it might seem as though she has peaked. With the release of her latest self-titled album, which actually sounded like a boring TLC album, I can confidently say she hasn’t peaked. Was the latest album the best thing hip hop has heard this year? No. But, like Rihanna’s new album, it showed far more than just musical promise, it showed creative genius, and that is what will bring Tinashe to the top.
Opening for Tinashe and taking Snakehips’ place at the Showbox Sodo on Friday, April 8th is pop writer Blackbear, who has shown a clear shift into R’n’B. He is a really good writer and producer, but he does nothing special, and he doesn’t excite me. He is just another 20 minutes between now and me watching Tinashe set the world on fire as I strap in for the ride of my life.
MARCUS SHRIVER | KXSU Head Reporter