Tinashe crowns the Album of the Week with ‘Popstar’, a new full-length project that follows her mini‑albums from 2023 and 2024. ‘Popstar’ is her first major-label release with Atlantic in eight years, and it is facing the strongest initial sales of her career in the United States, probably thanks to the improved distribution the record is enjoying this time around, as well as the viral momentum of ‘Nasty’ and the enduring success of the remix of ‘No Broke Boys’.
From ‘Popstar’ we’ve heard the ghettotech TikTok hit of ‘Too Easy’, the electronic textures of ‘Melatonin’ and other singles that sit in the same lane as Tinashe’s classic R&B on tracks like ‘Crash Out’. In that vein sits today’s Song of the Day, ‘Pillow Fight’.
Tracks like ‘Cash Race’ will always be great but overlooked singles in Tinashe’s catalog. ‘Pillow Fight’ deserves more attention as well. Tinashe delivers hook after hook on this R&B-pop cut while Ricky Reed and other producers, including Tinashe herself, dress her voice with R&B‑tinged beats that feel very ‘Damita Jo’ and with piano drips, as Tinashe brings full-on attitude.
The verses and the bridge lean on pretty catchy melodies, while the chorus shifts into a semi‑rapped cadence, with echoes of Ariana Grande’s ‘7 rings’. The hooks “On sight, you’re what I like-like / I’ll take you to the bed, I’ll get you right-right” and “I like to tussle, I wanna wrestle / Undress ya, let’s make a mess, yeah” craft a chorus that wins you over with little effort.
The pajama‑party vibe of ‘Pillow Fight’ is, of course, sexual, but also a lot of fun, and the concept recalls the moment when Tinashe once teamed up with Britney Spears for ‘Slumber Party’.
