Tinashe Is 'Embarrassed' Over Collabs With R Kelly + Chris Brown

Tinashe has opened up about working with problematic artists, R Kelly and Chris Brown, for previous collaborations.

In a new interview with the Zach Sang Show, the singer revealed she had been pushed by her label early on in her career to work with Kelly and Brown on two tracks who have been accused of abuse.

Kelly is a convicted sex offender currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for sex trafficking and racketeering, while Brown famously has a contentious record of physical abuse and misconduct.

Both tracks dropped in 2015, with Player ft. Chris Brown landing just before her collab with R. Kelly, which was titled Let’s Be Real Now. Both were orchestrated by her former label RCA Records.

“You think I wanted to [do those songs]?” she revealed to the host.

“I literally block out that R. Kelly song from my mind. I forget that it even exists. That is so embarrassing. That is so unreal that I even have a song with R. Kelly. That’s so embarrassing. Yes that was labely! And I was so young too.”

“I feel like I did that song when I just signed to that label. I was probably like 20. That was crazy.”

She continued: “You [lack a lot of control in that situation.] And especially when it comes to singles like the song with Chris – that was a song that we all wanted to be this big moment, this big single.”

“So I feel like in [the label’s] mind, they were like, ‘You need the support.’ And he was like their biggest artist that they had on rhythmic radio at the time. And to me, I was like, ‘Well this is a pop song. So I really don’t feel like we should put Chris on it. That doesn’t compute to me.’ But I don’t know!”

The 2 On singer added that, against her better judgment, she listened to the label's guidance.

"There's only so much that you can be like, 'No, I'm not going to do this,' because you want to be successful. You want to put your music out," said Tinashe.

"There was a part of me that was still excited or thankful or grateful or hopeful that, 'Maybe this will work. I am collaborating with a very successful artist. I don't know.'"

Tinashe is now an independent artist and last week released her latest album, BB/ANG3L.

@zachsangshow

“I block out that song from my mind” @Tinashe on working with R. Kelly #tinashe #rkelly #embarrassing #zachsangshow #zachsang #fyp #foryou @Amp

♬ original sound - Zach Sang Show