Tinashe's Popstar is here: 16 songs, no features and a big question in the title

Tinashe released Popstar on 25 September 2026. It is her eighth studio album, out through Nice Life Recording Company and Atlantic Records alongside her own Tinashe Music, and it follows Quantum Baby (2024), the album that carried "Nasty," her first solo entry on the Billboard Hot 100.

Popstar runs 16 tracks and roughly 39 minutes, with no guest features. Every song is Tinashe alone.

What she says it is

The title is the thesis. "Popstar is an energy. It's a persona one can embody," she told Stereogum in a cover story published on 21 September. She described the running order as a deliberate arc: "We go on an adventure throughout the album. It starts very confident and in your face, and then evolves and gets a bit more introspective."

She also framed the full-length format as a choice. "I'm pushing back on the TikTokification of it all, splintering creative projects into micro moments," she told the magazine.

Who made it

The core production team, per Stereogum and Complex, is Ricky Reed, Zack Sekoff and Travis Stewart, better known as Machinedrum. Stereogum reported that Arca produced the opener, "Sunglasses," and that a lot of the record came together over a two-week stretch in a Los Angeles studio around Christmas. Complex's credits rundown also lists Illangelo, Camper, Kingdom, Fred Ball and Nightfeelings among the contributors.

The singles

Popstar was rolled out in four steps, with dates confirmed on Apple Music:

• Too Easy, 5 June
• Crash Out, 16 July
• Melatonin, 13 August
• Pillow Fight and I'd Rather Be Alone, together on 10 September

"Too Easy" got the biggest visual push. Its video, from Tinashe's own channel, is directed by Onda with choreography by Jaquel Knight, the choreographer behind Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" routine.

The rest of the tracklist

Beyond the singles, the new songs are "Sunglasses," "Empty Stadium," "Flashbacks," "Overdramatic," "Nobody Wanna Dance Anymore," "Twentyfive Eight," "The Show Must Go On," the title track, "Brainrot," "Cloud 9" and the closer, "Heavy Weight."

A bonus edition landed on iTunes a few days later. Stereogum reported it includes a PinkPantheress remix of "Twentyfive Eight," co-produced with Count Baldor, plus a Nick León remix of "Brainrot," an Umru remix of "Popstar" and an extended "Too Easy."

Where it fits

Tinashe spent years as an independent artist before "Nasty" broke through, and Complex notes Popstar is her first album with a major label behind it since Joyride in 2018. With a major label back in her corner, she has chosen to make a 16-song, guest-free record about the idea of pop stardom itself. "At the end of the day, it is my art," she told Stereogum. We'll report back once we've given it the front-to-back listen she is asking for.