You never have to guess what Tink’s thinking. The Chicago-born songstress and rapper says it all in her music. She spits, speaks, and sings straight from the heart without filter or apology. At the same time, she breaks boundaries, dropping off bars with undeniable charisma and belting out hooks with show-stopping range. She can be romantic in one crescendo before getting raw in a bout of wild wordplay. This versatility consistently affirms her as a force in her own lane.
Following her 2011 debut mixtape Winter’s Diary, she dropped projects at a prolific pace, including Alter Ego, Blunts & Ballads, and Boss Up. 2014 saw Winter’s Diary 2: Forever Yours arrive to widespread critical acclaim, landing on year-end R&B album lists from Billboard and Rolling Stone. It also yielded “Treat Me Like Somebody,” which gathered 64 million Spotify streams and counting. A year later, XXL touted her among its coveted “Freshman Class.” Following a stint in the major label system, she embraced independence again with Winter’s Diary 4 [2016], Voicemails [2019], Hopeless Romantic [2020], and A Gift And A Curse [2020]. She collaborated with everyone from Sleigh Bells and Pentatonix to Future, G Herbo, 6lack, and K Camp. During 2021, she served up Heat of the Moment powered by “Rebel” [feat. Jeremih] and “Might Let You” [feat. Davido]. After raking in streams in the hundreds of millions and earning acclaim from Pitchfork, The FADER, HYPEBEAST, and more, she opens up like never before on her 2022 album, Pillow Talk.
The 16-track project features artists 2 Chainz, TOOSI,Fabolous, G Herbo, RussMuni Long, Layton Greene, and is executive produced by Hitmaka. “Pillow Talk” is a tour de force of Tink’s prowess as an R&B prodigy, encompassing technical elements of production, arrangements, and features and carefully balancing them against components such as exquisite lyricism and nuanced themes of being in love to self-love. From her early days signed with Timbaland and the restriction years of label politics, the 27 year old star is now declaring her autonomy in her career, and proudly owns all of her masters/catalog.
Make sure you tune in and subscribe to our youtube channel at youtube.com/jazziebelletv and follow us on social media @womeninhiphop @jazziebelletv @official__tink
Women in Hip Hop is a partner of the Double Elvis podcast network. For more of the best music storytelling follow @DoubleElvis on Instagram or search Double Elvis in your podcast app.