"Rascal (Superstar)" is a song by American singer Tinashe. It was released on July 17, 2020. The song was written by Tinashe and her brother, Kudzai Kachingwe, alongside co-writer Alex King, and was produced by Sage the Gemini.

Background

The song was conceived during Tinashe's ''

Songs for You ''Songs for You'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Tinashe, released independently through her own label Tinashe Music Inc. on November 21, 2019. It is the first project since her departure from RCA Records in February 2019. The proje ...

'' era. The song was first previewed on Instagram live several months prior to release.

"The vibes and energy were so infectious that It felt right to share, spontaneously. Since that day, my fans have been asking me to release the record nonstop! In the spirit of ''Songs For You'' I knew I had to drop it for my fans. Thanks to Sage the Gemini for producing – we are on some West Coast braggadocios vibes that, frankly, we all deserve."

Tinashe released a string of remixes from her previous studio album ''Songs for You'', including "

Hopscotch Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a ch ...

", " Die a Little Bit", " Touch & Go", and " Save Room For Us".

Composition and lyrics

"Rascal" (Superstar)" is a bouncy, "groovy, darker" track.

Critical reception

Meredith Kile for Kare11 praised the songs sonic qualities, calling it "an expensive-sounding track". ''Brooklyn Vegan''s Andrew Sacher called "Rascal" overall "a great dose of air, moody R&B". Criticism drew from the song's lyrical content in context of the time of its release of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Joan Summers from '' Jezebel'' put it, the lyrics " rea perfectly fine sentiment, I guess, if we weren't currently living through these modern times".

Music video

The music video for the song accompanied its release the same day as the song, premiering on Tinashe's YouTube channel. It was directed by

Jasper Soloff Jasper Soloff is an American photographer and director. His work has appeared in ''Vogue'', '' GQ'', ''Paper Magazine'', ''Dazed'', ''i-D Magazine'', ''Nylon Magazine'', ''Out Magazine'', ''Gay Times'' and '' Billboard''. He has directed music vi ...

. The only feature in the music video is a Phantom 4 Pro drone.

Synopsis

The music video follows a socialite trapped in her home while

live streaming Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

to her fans.

Release history

References

{{Tinashe 2020 singles 2020 songs Songs written by Tinashe Tinashe songs