As Tink prepares to release her first label-backed single,
“Ratchet Commandments,” to radio, she hopes to make
a home in the rare league of artists who are known both
for their inimitable skills and the loyalty they inspire
among fans. “I’ll never change up as Tink,” she says in
the basement, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully.
“It may take longer, but the name Tink is gonna hold
weight. You can’t just have a normal track with Kendrick
Lamar on it, or a regular track with J. Cole. I want my
name and my presence on songs to be the same way.”
But there’s a big gap between the challenges that
male musicians like Cole and Kendrick face and the
double standards and gender inequalities that
pushed Nicki Minaj to make her now-legendary
“pickle juice” speech, where she said: “When I’m
assertive, I’m a bitch; when a man is assertive, he’s a boss.”
“You can’t just have
a normal track with
Kendrick Lamar on it”
“There’s a broad range of male rappers, so if they’re
going out on a limb and they sound different, it’s okay
because we have twenty other rappers doing what the
radio wants,” Tink says. “As far as females, there aren’t
as many, so if you want to compete, you have to sound
just like this because that’s the only thing hot right now.
If you want to compete, you have to look like this.”
She’s aware that she’s entering into a business that isn’t
always looking out for its female players’ best interests.
Angel Haze, for example, leaked her own album in
frustration, a year and a half after signing with a major label.
Azealia Banks also made an unceremonious break from
her label in 2014, after two-plus years in limbo. Banks
was able to self-release an excellent album, but tends to
get less attention for that than for her outspokenness
about the erasure of black culture from black music.
Article provide by Fader
“Meet Tink” by Jenna Wortham
101 Magazine • Fall Edition • Page 10