Tink

Tink is assured singer and rapper whose songwriting is resolutely forthright. The Chicago-area native made a name for herself as a teenager in the early 2010s with numerous mixtapes, the first couple volumes of her acclaimed series Winter's Diary among them. These recordings led to a spot in XXL magazine's Freshman Class of 2015 feature and a contract with hitmaker <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>'s label. Although the deal didn't pan out -- a completed album, Think Tink, remains unissued -- Tink continued to progress independently with charting projects such as Pain & Pleasure (2018) and Thanks 4 Nothing (2023). "Cut It Out" and "Bottom Bitch," two of her more powerful singles released during this period, earned gold RIAA certifications before Tink charted again with Winter's Diary 5 (2024), another raw and multifaceted exploration of relationships from her unique perspective.

Born Trinity Laure'Ale Home in Calumet City, Illinois, roughly 20 miles south of Chicago, Tink began singing in church as a youngster and got into songwriting at the age of 12. While she was still a teenager, she released her first several mixtapes. Much of this material was developed and recorded beside her father, who engineered recordings in their basement studio. Four tapes, starting with the first installment of the Winter's Diary series, arrived in 2012 and 2013. Winter's Diary 2, highlighted by the yearning ballad "Treat Me Like Somebody," followed in 2014. By the end of that year, Tink had been featured on tracks by the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:5WqNY6156QUWkqhrrie1Bp">Future Brown</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:59pWgeY26Q6yJy37QvJflh">Sleigh Bells</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3KV3p5EY4AvKxOlhGHORLg">Jeremih</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1U0sIzpRtDkvu1hXXzxh60">Kelela</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5BozIJTTNCufaZpjhy2der">DJ Dahi</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>.

A deal with <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Epic%22">Epic</a>-supported <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mosley+Music+Group%22">Mosley Music Group</a> yielded several singles through 2015, the year XXL magazine featured Tink in their annual Freshman Class feature. Among the tracks was "Million," an update of <a href="spotify:artist:0urTpYCsixqZwgNTkPJOJ4">Aaliyah</a>'s "One in a Million" that reached number 38 on Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart. The third and fourth volumes of the Winter's Diary series were issued in 2015 and 2016, but the album Think Tink remained shelved by <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>, prompting a months-long negotiation process. After gaining artistic independence, Tink returned in 2018 with the Pain & Pleasure EP, a number 147 entry on the Billboard 200.

Tink signed a new distribution deal and by the end of 2020 she'd added the mixtape Voicemails, the album Hopeless Romantic, and the EP A Gift and a Curse to her discography. Hopeless Romantic was her first release to enter the Billboard 200 (it placed at number 99), and featured her first gold single with the lean ballad "Cut It Out." The hard-hitting and cathartic "Bottom Bitch," taken from A Gift and a Curse, would also go gold. Heat of the Moment, executive-produced by <a href="spotify:artist:1VeOsE6gNwoBsIAinCAb3l">Hitmaka</a>, arrived in 2021 and reached number 54 with <a href="spotify:artist:3KNIG74xSTc3dj0TRy7pGX">Yung Bleu</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3KV3p5EY4AvKxOlhGHORLg">Jeremih</a> featured respectively on the singles "Selfish" and Rebel."

Maintaining her annual full-length release schedule, Tink returned in 2022 with Pillow Talk, a number 43 hit with another round of tracks -- including "Cater," assisted by <a href="spotify:artist:17lzZA2AlOHwCwFALHttmp">2 Chainz</a> -- that reached seven-digit streaming figures in rapid fashion. Pillow Talk was barely six months old when Tink followed it with Thanks 4 Nothing, her fourth consecutive charting album. Still working closely with <a href="spotify:artist:1VeOsE6gNwoBsIAinCAb3l">Hitmaka</a>, Tink designed the set with post-breakup listening in mind. Featured guests were limited to <a href="spotify:artist:7c0XG5cIJTrrAgEC3ULPiq">Ty Dolla $ign</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3KNIG74xSTc3dj0TRy7pGX">Yung Bleu</a>. Winter's Diary 5, the fifth edition of her ongoing series, served as her fifth full-length and was released in July 2024, hitting 140 on the Billboard 200. The sweetly delivered if confrontational ballad "Charged Up," along with the <a href="spotify:artist:57LYzLEk2LcFghVwuWbcuS">Summer Walker</a> collaboration "Songs About U," were among the highlights. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi