BB/Ang3l (pronounced "Baby Angel") is the sixth studio album by American singer Tinashe. It was released on September 8, 2023, by her independent label Tinashe Music and Nice Life Recording Company. The album serves as the follow up to her fifth studio album, 333 (2021). BB/Ang3l was supported by two singles, "Talk to Me Nice" and "Needs". Talking about the album's title, she was inspired by screen names and avatars, which allowed her to create and control her own persona online.
BB/Ang3l received generally positive reviews from music critics, and it peaked at number 32 on Billboard's Top Album Sales chart. She announced the Tinashe & Shygirl Tour with Shygirl to promote the album, with the supporting act UNIIQU3. However, the tour was closed due to Shygirl's surgery. Tinashe re-announced the tour titled BB/Ang3l Tour, on November 14, 2023, stating the tour "must go on!". A second part of the album, entitled Quantum Baby, was released on August 16, 2024.
Background
On August 31, 2023, Tinashe shared the album's tracklist.[1][2] In an interview with Nylon, Tinashe shared: "This album has a very personal approach. It doesn't feel performative or like there's a lot of extras. It's just really down to the raw emotion."[3] On Good Morning America, Tinashe told host Michael Strahan that she thinks the album "really represents who I am as a person right now, and everything I've been going through, and my life".[4] Talking about the name of the album, Tinashe stated that the she was inspired by screen names and avatars, and how this enabled her to create her own persona online and took control over it.[5] Tinashe explained that she aimed to streamline BB/Ang3l, focusing on a concise seven-track project so that each song could be fully appreciated. She noted that the process of creating albums often involves extensive work, and she wanted listeners to have the opportunity to engage with the music thoughtfully. Tinashe has regularly released additional content for her previous projects, such as the deluxe edition of 2021's 333 and accompanying remixes. She stated that future releases for BB/Ang3l were uncertain. The album also features a collaboration with Shygirl, with whom Tinashe had previously worked on the track "Heaven" from Shygirl's prior project.[6]
Talking about new things coming up, she said she was "really really excited about this, I have more things coming in the whole era, which is really exciting. And I think you know the part two is maybe coming in the spring". The second part of the album was officially announced as Quantum Baby on April 8, 2024.[7] It was released on August 16, 2024.[8]
Composition
BB/Ang3l is an electronic-R&B album[6] which features seven tracks, with Tinashe performing all vocals herself. According to Uproxx, the short tracklist highlights her individual contributions throughout the project.[9]
Promotion
Tinashe unveiled a twenty-minute visual project titled The BB/ANG3L Experience, following her recent East Coast tour in support of BB/Ang3l. The video opens with the definition of "stamina" and features choreography across several tracks, including "Treason" and "Talk to Me Nice". Tinashe served as creative director, with Mike Ho directing and choreographer Shay Latukolan coordinating the movements and performances.[10]
Singles
"Talk to Me Nice" was released as the album's lead single on July 21, 2023.[11] Its music video, directed by Bradley J. Calder,[12] premiered on the same day on Tinashe's YouTube account. The music video depicts Tinashe placed in a studio with a beige curtain background, focused on the concept of representing "shedding old layers, beginning anew, peeling back layers, intimacy, exploring distortions, perceptions, removing the masks, raw, skin, new era, fresh".[13] The second single, "Needs", was released on August 18, 2023,[14] and its music video on the same day, directed by Sammy Rawal.[15] In the video, Tinashe is shown dancing through the aisles of a grocery store, accompanied by friends.[16]
The music video of the fourth track, "Uh Huh", were released on September 8, 2023, alongside the album.[17]
Tour
Tinashe announced the Tinashe & Shygirl Tour, co-headling together with Shygirl, on August 1, 2023, with UNIIQU3 as the supporting act.[2][18] However, due to a medical condition, Shygirl had to pull out of the shows on October 20, 2023, allowing her to get surgery for "an ongoing respiratory condition".[19][20] In response to the cancellation of the tour, Tinashe announced that "the show must go on!",[21] and that she and her team were putting together her own tour, leading to the announcement of the BB/Ang3l Tour on November 14, 2023.[22]
BB/Ang3l received positive reviews. Dylan Green of Pitchfork described BB/Ang3l as "as stylish and focused as a runway walk", writing that its "sense of intimacy, combined with her thriving confidence [...] makes BB/Ang3l so potent".[25] Sam Franzini of The Line of Best Fit argued that BB/Ang3l might be her strongest work, stating that "even on tracks where she isn't necessarily inventing anything new, playing around in contemporary sets of R&B and trap, there's still a spark that makes them hard-to-miss". Talking about future projects of Tinashe, Franzini argues that "as R&B's most solid underground hitmaker, it's certain Tinashe will create something just as fun and down-to-earth soon to come".[24]HotNewHipHop praised BB/Ang3l as a project that may appeal to Tinashe's audience as well as R&B listeners.[26]
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