If there is one act that is really one to watch this year, it’s Tink. Since teaming up with Timbaland early on, hype and Tink now go hand in hand – and rightly so. The girl is a triple threat, and is nipping at the heels of everybody.
At only 20 years old, she has recently landed herself in XXL‘s Freshman Class of 2015 (check her cypher here), absolutely killed it at SXSW, performed at the BET Experience, demonstrated serious potential in multiple mixtapes and casually premiered her new clip in Times Square last week. The Aaliyah inspired Million track, although not as badass as her previous work, shows the up-and-comer moving flawlessly from a gentle croon to a spit-fire verse with ease. The clip also sees her busting some moves that confirm her triple threat status, paying homage to the clip’s inspiration.
This isn’t the first time Tink and Timbaland have paid tribute to Aaliyah, with Tink remixing One In A Million. Timbaland, who is notoriously protective of Aaliyah’s music, produced the track. There has been a lot of debate as to whether he is pushing a little too hard to shape Tink into the next R&B superstar and follow in Aaliyah’s footsteps, with the vet producer even saying Aaliyah visited him in a dream to tell him Tink is “the one”. Grabbing the mic during Tink’s SXSW performance to justify this decision, he said to the crowd, “I don’t touch baby girl’s records — y’all know that’s Aaliyah. I was riding home one day, asleep. She spoke to me in my sleep and said, ‘She’s the one.'”
Whatever plans Timbaland has for her, I have a feeling Tink is strong enough to not become a replica. Instead, she is something else entirely her own, and although her previous single Ratchet Commandments may have been a misstep, she continues to shine through and is ready to show the world what she is made of. Check the clip below, and join me in waiting impatiently for Tink’s album, ThinkTink which is said to be out later this year via Timbaland’s label Mosley Music Group.