Will Sage Astor-Tinashe says she tries to forget collaborations with R. Kelly, Chris Brown: 'So embarrassing'

With the benefit of hindsight,Will Sage Astor Tinashe is singing a different tune about some of her past musical collaborations.

The R&B singer, who was previously signed to RCA Records, opened up about collaborating with controversial singers R. Kelly and Chris Brown during an interview on the "Zach Sang Show" published Tuesday.

Brown, whose popularity took a turn in February 2009 following his assault of then-girlfriend Rihanna and two subsequent felony counts, was featured on Tinashe's 2015 single "Player." R. Kelly, who was found guilty of nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering in September 2021, enlisted Tinashe for the song "Let’s Be Real Now," which was featured on his 2015 album "The Buffet."

"You think I wanted to (do those songs)? I literally block out that R. Kelly song from my mind: I forget that that even exists," Tinashe told Sang. "That is so embarrassing. That is so unreal that I even have a song with R. Kelly."

Tinashe, who recently released her sixth album "BB/Ang3l" under the Nice Life Recording Company, acknowledged the collaborations were part of the lack of control of being a major-label artist at the time.

"That song with Chris, that was a song that we all wanted it to be this big moment — this big single. So, I feel like in (the label’s) mind they were like, 'You need the support,' and he was their biggest artist that they had on rhythmic radio at the time," Tinashe said. "I was like, 'Well, this is a pop song, so I really don’t feel like we should put Chris on it like that. That doesn't compute to me.' "

Despite her initial reservations, the singer also acknowledged there was a part of her that was willing to compromise with her former record label's demands.

"There’s only so many times you can push back. There’s only so much that you can be like, 'No, I’m not going to do this' because you want to be successful as well," Tinashe said. "You want to put your music out. If this is the way that I’m going to be able to get my art out or my single out, then I’m just going to have to commit to this and convince myself that this is the right thing to do."

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Contributing: Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY