Tinashe, for her all her strengths and weaknesses, is a consummate professional and one hell of a performer. She proved it last night on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, delivering a slick, sultry performance of “No Drama” that somehow split the difference between Missy Elliott’s “The Rain” video, The Matrix, and some sort of patent leather, fantasy fetish gear. All that, plus she hit the “Shoot” dance in heels. You. Go. Girl.
Tinashe’s late night appearance coincides with the release of her long-awaited, oft-delayed sophomore album, Joyride, where she finally balances the moody introspection of her early tapes with the hip-hop-tinged dance pop that her made her a ton of fans after her label arranged the 2014 DJ Mustard collaboration that launched her into mainstream consciousness.
Offset pops up as well, giving an appearance that can only be described as efficient as hell; he comes out, spits his verse, and clears the stage to give Tinashe and her raincoat-clad dancers more time to shine. It’s a wise choices, as she swoops back in to furnish the band-led breakdown with her most energetic dance moves, ending the set alone on stage to receive a standing ovation from the thoroughly-entertained studio audience. As host Jimmy Fallon declares as he embraces the singer (who barely even seems to be breathing hard), “That’s how you do it.”
