TINAA
(Rap, Nantes)
Tinaa’s rap is direct, and emotionally charged. Whether rapped or sung, her lyrics say something intimate, revealing a universal energy. The power of good songs!
Let’s head to Nantes, and sit down with Tinaa to better understand her world, her “blues”, her cheekiness, and her determination to make as much noise as possible!
| Interview by Polka B. | Translated by NinoFutur
Before rapping, you sang a lot, alone with your guitar.
How did you decide to start rapping?
Tinaa: I really saw a link between song and rap in terms of lyrics. I was already listening to a lot of it. When I started writing, I had things to say. And rap is dense. It’s perfect for that, especially since I had a lot of anger! But I’m still very influenced by French songs…
You are originally a SEN teacher.
What was the trigger for you to devote yourself entirely to music?
T: I have been in social work since I was 18. I started training as an educator, and only one month after my father passed away. I felt like there was an urgency. He had always encouraged me to become a musician and write my own lyrics.
I always said no, and since his death, it’s as if his goal had become mine. It’s weird but as long as he was there I couldn’t go for it.
So I started writing… and I really burned for it! It has become my way to deal with grief. That’s also why I have so much energy!
It’s true that you’ve taken part in a lot of rap contests. You’ve even won most of them! Can you tell us about this process?
I approached everyone I could, in order to have more resources and support opportunities. My first contest at the Tempo bar in Guemene Penfao allowed me to finance my first 5-track EP : Alba, pressed in 500 copies.
After that, I won the prize at the “Pulsations” springboard in Angers. That helped me a lot because as a student I had nothing. In any case, not enough to produce anything. Even today I don’t have a team. I manage things on my own. Where I got a lot of visibility was when I won the Hip Hop Talents competition in 2024. After that, I posted a freestyle on Skyrock (biggest french rap radio ED) and Konbini made a video about me.
In your song “Blues” you say: “I’m neither a bad bitch nor a tomboy. Feminist like a witch, which label are they going to put me?” Did you feel that people absolutely wanted to categorize you?
T: At the end of my concerts, it’s always the same comments. Like I remind them of Keny Arkana or Diam’s… In short, girls who raps! As if we were taking away our own particularities. It’s a bit annoying. No one would make so many shortcuts with a guy.
But besides that, the fact of being a girl makes you stand out. To come back to the sentence you quoted, I wanted to say that in general, people tend to classify you in extremes. Either they see you as a tomboy, or they hypersexualize you. Personally, I don’t find myself in either, I want to break the codes while remaining myself. I want to rap with angryness, and to sing. To express many things in different ways.
You are a politicized person, close to activism. Have you always wanted to put your music at the service of your ideals?
T: There have always been ideas in my music: “Le Bruit et l’odeur” (Noise and smell), “L’heure a sonné” (Time has come)… Today I perhaps bring them in a slightly more subtle way, like in “Blues”. But hey, people call me a “activist rapper”, even though I only have three songs on the subject. On the scale of a concert, I talk about life, mourning, love, travel, insomnia, spleen…
I am proud to embody that, but at the same time I am afraid of falling into this somewhat cliché thing of the leftist rapper. I prefer to address subjects that speak to society in the broad sense. I have a bit of trouble with proselytism, I have no one to convince.
On your Instagram profile you wrote: “as comfortable in SMAC* as in ZAD**”. Can you tell us about this off-road side that you have developed?
T: Let’s say that I offer a live performance with several facets. There is a common thread, a story. I see it as a show that can touch a lot of people. I want to defend it by playing in all sorts of places. When I play for SMACs I can reach a family audience.
But I also have a lot of fun in alternative music. I had the opportunity to play at great parties, on huge stages. On the other hand, on this thing of being off-road: it should in no way limit my speech. I am not saying that I want to please everyone and I fully assume that I am divisive.
*(“Scène de musiques actuelles” (SMAC) label is awarded by the Ministry of Culture to certain subsidized concert halls, **”ZAD” are natural occupied zones by commited protesters ED)
We wanted to talk to you about your song “Sors de ma tête” (« Out of my head »). It seems like it really touched a lot of people.
T: This song talks about two things. First, an unbalanced love relationship. It’s going badly. The other person doesn’t want it anymore, while I’m all in. I don’t have the control and feel a sense of violence. Somewhere, I’m made to feel like I’m not good enough for the other person.
The second thing I’m talking about is this need we have as women to be seductive.
This need to be validated and to have to fill this void through conquests. There’s an unhealthy side to it. It’s unconscious, we take care of our ego. As if to regain control over guys. Like “oh you’ve sexualized me all my life? Well, I’m going to take you too and then I’m going to throw you away.“
And I got a lot of feedback from a lot of girls. Many told me that I had put words to something real. Even guys recognized themselves in it. The chorus stays in people’s heads a lot too. In concert, you can see it, people are really into it!
I’m happy with this song, because it’s a way of bringing feminism in a slightly different way.
I never use the word patriarchy. But I say: “I don’t like guys, I like their validation / I don’t have the codes to love myself / If I turn them on, it’s out of alienation / Because they gave me averages right from school.” My feminism shines through the song. It’s my way of politicizing the thing. That’s really what I want to turn to.
How do you want to develop your musical project? Do you have a long-term vision?
T: You put your finger on something: it’s a daily pressure! Since I’m alone, I sometimes have trouble structuring my thing. Fortunately, I work with a booker who also boosts me in my project.
But I steer my boat according to my feelings from day to day, and it’s a bit tiring sometimes. I might need to be more surrounded to get through a stage. And at the same time, without a team, I’m super reactive and flexible. I move forward exactly as I feel. I like this spontaneous side.
On the next EP, I’m going to say more about who I am. There will be more reflection than on the previous project.
Who are the most listened artists from your Spotify wrapped at the end of 2024?
T: There was Jul, Hugo TSR, Dooz Kawa... But that’s not necessarily representative. If there’s a single that I listened to death, it’s going to increase the artist’s stats overall!
In truth, if I had to name the top 3 artists who inspire me the most, I would say: Mano Solo, Dooz Kawa and Edith Piaf! If you mix all that up a bit, you can understand my style. I’ve already been told that what I do is like if Edith Piaf rapped. That’s a hell of a compliment. But it doesn’t come out of nowhere.