Tinashe Fazakerley (born 4 April 1984), now professionally known as Rationale, is a
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
-born British singer and songwriter, formerly known as Tinashé. He is known for his soulful R&B and
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
style with electric influences. His alias Tinashé was known for his
synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
sound and his African influences.
Early life
Fazakerley was born in the Harare township of
Highfield
Highfield may refer to:
Places
;Places in England
* Highfield, Bolton
* Highfield, Derbyshire
* Highfield, Gloucestershire
*Highfield, Southampton
*Highfield, Hertfordshire a neighbourhood in Hemel Hempstead
* Highfield, Oxfordshire
* Highfield, S ...
. At the age of 9, he and his three siblings moved to the United Kingdom in the Camberwell district of London, where his single mother was working as a nurse. Later, at the age of 11, he moved to the London borough of Hackney and music began to play a more significant role in his life as he learned to play the guitar. His influences were varying, ranging from Jimi Hendrix,
Prince
A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...
,
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...
,
Donnie Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...
and
Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
, to
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...
,
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip and
the Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...
Career
Tinashé and singing hiatus (2009–2014)
In 2010, after releasing two EPs and three singles, Fazakerley released the album ''Saved'' under the stage name Tinashé, but it had limited success.
He took a break from singing and went on to become a songwriter and producer, working with producer
Mark Crew
Mark Crew (born 21 February 1985) is a songwriter, record producer, and mix engineer based in London, known for
his work with Bastille, Rag'n'Bone Man, and the Wombats.
Production and songwriting
Crew produced the albums '' Bad Blood'' ( ...
, while writing songs for blues artist
Rag'n'Bone Man
Rory Charles Graham (born 29 January 1985), better known as Rag'n'Bone Man, is an English singer and songwriter. He is known for his deep baritone voice. His first hit single, "Human", was released in 2016, and his debut album of the same na ...
, among others. He also wrote songs for the Swiss version of
The Voice
The Voice may refer to:
Fictional entities
* The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics
* The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe
* The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleop ...
talent show.
Rationale (2015–present)
In 2015, he relaunched his career as Rationale, releasing songs such as "Fast Lane" and "Something for Nothing" on
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
and
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
. It was on these streaming platforms that he gained notable recognition, with a mention by
Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...
on his
Apple Music
Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple ...
Beats1 radio show, OTHERtone, calling him someone who had "found the beauty in their voice". This elevated Fast Lane to No. 2 within its first week on the Spotify Global Viral Chart, reached No. 1 on
Hype Machine
Hype Machine is a music blog aggregator created by Anthony Volodkin.
History
Hype Machine was originally a music database created in 2005 by Anthony Volodkin, then a sophomore computer science major at Hunter College.Heilemann, JohCapturing th ...
, and amassed more than 1.3 million views on SoundCloud. Rationale also received praise from Justin Timberlake and
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
. He became one of the first artists to be signed to Dan Smith of
Bastille
The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...
's new record label, Best Laid Plans.
His debut self-titled album was released on 6 October 2017, under exclusive license to
Warner Music UK
Warner Music Group's labels include the following.
Flagship labels
*Atlantic Records
*Elektra Records
*Parlophone Records
*Warner Records
Atlantic Records Group
* 1st & 15th Entertainment
* All Money In
* Artist Partners Group
* Asylum Reco ...
. Fazakerley is credited as a songwriter and producer on
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her campy style, she has been referred to ...
's 2017 album, ''
Witness
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
'' on the song, "Act My Age". His single "Tethered" is often covered by
Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and A&R. After ...
at her concerts.
In 2019, he was featured on
Big Wild
Jackson Stell (born 1990), known by his stage name of Big Wild, is an American electronic producer, composer, vocalist and sound engineer.
As a performer, his live shows often consist of switching between multiple instruments (drum pads, synths ...
′s album "Superdream" on the song "6's to 9's".
In 2021, he was featured on
Model Man
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
's self-titled album on the song "Esc (Holding Back)".