Album of the Week: Tink Winter's Diary 3

In the shadow of all the press Drake has been getting the past couple weeks because of his "beef" with Meek Mill, it's worth noting that Tink (an artist who excels at all the same things that made Drake so big) quietly released her latest mixtape, Winter's Diary 3, and I'm here to tell you the thing absolutely goes. It serves as a gorgeous soul album, a display of Tink's lyrical prowess, and shows why it's only a matter of time before everyone knows her name.

At the early age of 20, Tink has already nailed down a sonic style and approach that allows both room to explore her delivery and keeps her growing and adapting, which is no small feat. She sounds completely in her element over these beats, all snapping 808s and icy piano lines. When she switches the tempo up so she can rap on tracks like "L.E.A.S.H.," there are some fantastic world music elements woven throughout for her to play with. This kind of music is the stuff Noah Shebib has been providing for Drake on the regular for years, and Tink makes her home on it with the same confident ease Drake does. Tink goes even further, nudging her sounds into different territories, and I'm eager to hear what kind of producers she brings into her orbit as she grows.

What really sets Tink apart from the many other aspiring soul up-and-comers is her lyrics, which take the typical narrative you'll find in R&B and rap, and bends them to her version. Take "Stripclub," a simmering bump-and-grind number that gets into the head and motivations behind the kind of dancer rappers are so often serenading. Lines like "Mama said you wanna be grown you're on your own/But now she's at Red Diamond, every weekend she's shinning/Trying to make ends for the kid," peel back the layers to show a woman struggling to make it in a world where her opportunities are limited.

The best song here is "I Like," a gorgeous tweak of Chief Keef's "I Don'tLike," that details the things Tink appreciates about her current lover. Amidst the lyrics about his sweetness and loyalty, there are lines like "But he holds it down, stands his ground, play his move/Doesn't rush to get into my body," that show a man who respects a woman's choices, moves at her pace and doesn't pressure her. In a time when more and more people are pointing out the damages of patriarchy and the sexualization of women, lyrics that highlight the importance of equality like this are even more critical, and Tink performs it beautifully.

When the biggest complaint you have against a piece of music is that it's far too short (the album is just around half-an-hour), you know you've got something special on your hands. I'm hoping the brevity means she's working on something big for us soon, and everyone should be excited to hear what she has cooking. We're witnessing the artistic birth of someone important – pay attention.

Winter's Diary 3 is available now. Download it here.

Also recommended this week:

Gregg Allman's live album, Back to Macon, GA.

Mac DeMarco’s lovely acoustic gem, Another One.

HEALTH's dark punk album, Death Magic.