Tinashe Had the Coolest Full Circle Moment With Her Idol Janet Jackson

Tinashe's music takes inspiration from a whole bunch of sources: She loves Britney Spears, Sade, Christina Aguilera... But it's Janet Jackson who takes the crown as the singer's all-time idol.

So when Jackson actually sampled one of Tinashe's songs, it was the most amazing "full circle moment," the star told Marie Claire in a new cover story for our digital Beauty Issue.

Here's what happened: Tinashe was inspired by Janet Jackson's own 1986 song called "Nasty" when coming up with last summer's smash hit, also called "Nasty."

Then, after Tinashe's song started getting a ton of attention—including as part of a viral TikTok, and charting on Billboard—Jackson ended up remixing parts of the younger woman's song into her own in 2024.

This meant a great deal to Tinashe, who loves everything the "That's the Way Love Goes" singer stands for.

"To me, she's all of the things that are peak entertainer: music videos, musicality, genre hopping, professionalism, dancing, acting," the "2 On" singer told us.

Last July, Tinashe got to meet Jackson in the flesh, and the two women even took a picture to commemorate the moment. Posting it on Instagram, Tinashe wrote: "The blueprint, the icon, the OG Queen herself, Ms. Jackson if you’re Nasty"

In the comments, she added for good measure, "(I am deceased)." Yes, one would be.

Meanwhile, the two women have a lot more in common that just the shared title of a song: Tinashe, like Jackson, is also a multi-talented artist: a singer, a songwriter, and a dancer.

One of Tinashe's producers, Ricky Reed, explained to Marie Claire that one of the qualities that makes her a great songwriter is that she always imagines the dancing aspect alongside the music: "She's got to be able to picture the choreo," Reed said. "I think it has to feel as good in her body as it feels coming out of her mouth."

And at the end of the day, we're the ones who are blessed.