Nasty (Tinashe song)

"Nasty" is a song by American singer and songwriter Tinashe. It was released on April 12, 2024, via her independent record label, Tinashe Music Inc. and Nice Life Recording Company. The song's release coincided with her performance at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.

"Nasty" is set to serve as the lead single from her upcoming seventh studio album, Quantum Baby. It was written by Tinashe and Ricky Reed and produced by Zack Sekoff alongside Reed. "Nasty" peaked at number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 2024, becoming Tinashe's first entry on the chart as a lead artist since her 2014 single "2 On" and her first entry as an independent artist.

Background, release, and promotion


Before releasing "Nasty", Tinashe released six studio albums and became independent from a record label in 2019. In April 2024, she signed a worldwide publishing deal with Position Music, obtaining the publishing rights to her future releases from that point forward and her previous album BB/Ang3l. She teased her forthcoming seventh studio album, Quantum Baby—the second in a trilogy of albums following BB/Ang3l—with a trailer shared on her various social media platforms on April 8. "Nasty", the lead single from Quantum Baby, and its music video were both released on April 12, 2024.

"Nasty" first became popular due to the virality of a video posted in June 2024 to X of TikTok user @nates.vibe, whom The Cut described as a "nerdy white boy with surprise flavor", wining to soca music with his dance instructor, with "Nasty" laid over the video. Tinashe also posted several videos of her recreating the dance over the original video.

On June 18, 2024, Tinashe released the Match My Freak extended play (EP), comprising the single version of "Nasty" and five remixes, including a Jersey club remix by Uniiqu3 (the "Match My Speed" remix), an EDM remix by Wuki (the "Match My Peak" remix), a "hyperactive, chopped-up" rave remix by Jane Remover (the "Match My Tweak" remix), a chopped and screwed remix by OG Ron C and DJ Candlestick (the "Match My Sleek" remix), and a remix by DJ Tunez. Later that month, she released a capsule collection of "Nasty"-themed merchandise, including condoms, temporary tattoos, boxers, hockey jerseys, socks, towels, pendants, tank tops, t-shirts, and hoodies. On July 19, 2024, she extended the EP by releasing two more remixes. One being titled “Nasty Girl Remix” which featured the singer Chlöe and “Nasty XXX Remix” which featured rapper Tyga.

Composition
"Nasty" is an understated R&B and rhythmic pop song on which Tinashe "rap-sings" about searching for someone to match her sexual energy, which she alternately calls her "freak" and her "nasty", while also using several double entendres. The song has a "robotic" hook and, in its second verse, she details a sexually charged date night, singing "Shotgun, my thighs on his seat/I ain't got nothing underneath/Looks like you're 'bout to spend the night/Looks Like, I'm 'bout to change your life".

Billboard's Kyle Denis and Michael Saponara wrote that "Tinashe leans into her Nasty Nashe alter-ego" on the song. Its beat was described by Alex Gonzalez of Uproxx as "punchy" and "futuristic". Tinashe described "Nasty" as "fun, sexy, empowered and cute". Stereogum's Tom Breihan jokingly likened the song to a "horny-robot mating call".

Commercial performance
On the chart dated June 15, 2024, "Nasty" debuted at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Tinashe's overall fifth entry, second as a lead artist and first solo song on the chart. It also marked her first Hot 100 entry in almost eight years, and later peaked at number 61. The song also peaked at number 19 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs on the chart dated June 22, 2024.

Music video
The accompanying music video for "Nasty" was released the same day as the single on April 12, 2024. It was directed by Jonah Haber and choreographed by Jojo Gomez. The video starts with Tinashe becoming somewhat "nasty" from working on her car. She then proceeds to dance with her dancers in a desert biome, with the dancers attempting to match Tinashe's "freak". Furthermore, it shows Tinashe in a desert being chased by several drones. At the end of the video, she retrieves a weapon from a car and shoots a drone down before driving away. The video ends with "2.B Continued" on the screen.

Following its release, Ivan Guzman of Paper described the video as "a study in sexy surveillance, shot in the desert and intentionally timed around the recent eclipse". Taylor Henderson of BET wrote that the video was "Mad Max-inspired", while Alex Gonzalez, for Uproxx, praised the video's choreography as "next-level".

Live performances
Tinashe performed "Nasty" live for the first time during her debut performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Mojave stage in April 2024. She then performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on June 12.

Recognition
"Nasty" initially went viral on X after a user posted a video from TikTok of a British dancer dancing to soca music with his instructor, with "Nasty" replacing the original audio. The song gained further traction on TikTok.

Credits and personnel

 * Tinashe – vocals, songwriting
 * Ricky Reed – production
 * Zack Sekoff – production
 * Ike Schultz – vocal production, mixing engineering
 * Ethan Shumaker – mixing engineering
 * Chris Gehringer – master engineering