Tinashe Says She Brings Her PS5 on Tour Just to Play ‘Call of Duty’
Talk to Tinashe for long enough, and Call of Duty: Warzone is likely to come up. She mentioned her love of gaming when Rolling Stone caught up with her in October, talked about Warzone with Billboard in August, and played the game with the YouTube channel Gaming While Black back in 2022. So, it’s no surprise that Call of Duty tapped the singer to promote the return of the beloved Verdansk map.
Still, sadly (and predictably), some fans questioned her bona fides. She doesn’t seem fazed. “I think it’s something that you kind of expect with the territory and within the culture, and something that I’m definitely used to,” the singer tells Rolling Stone.
“Gaming culture is super huge, and especially women — young women — [are] an underappreciated fan community,” she adds. “So, it’s really nice to be able to represent that. And yeah, hopefully with more representation, the less we’ll have those kind of stigmas.”
For the uninitiated, Warzone is Call of Duty‘s free-to-play online first-person shooter. Debuting in 2020, the game arrived during a prime time for the battle royale genre and, if you recall, doing things at home in general. “There was just a lot of time, and it was a great way for me to stay social and hang out with my friends and connect with people,” Tinashe says. “I got really into it during the pandemic and have been playing it since.”
Earlier this month, Activison announced the return of Verdansk to Warzone. It’s the arena that, pardon the expression, put Warzone on the map. “It’s the one that we really, I think, formed a lot of our first memories with playing Warzone and really getting into the game. We haven’t had that map for a really long time, and fans have been waiting and waiting and waiting,” Tinashe explains. “I feel like it has the perfect blend of just the different terrain and the buildings, and it’s just very nostalgic. And you know, it’s fun.”
Tinashe is in the same league as other artists, like Kane Brown, who won’t let something as trivial as a major tour get in the way of playing Call of Duty. “I actually always bring my PlayStation on tour, so I set it up in the venues before. It’s one of the ways that I can still stay connected with the things I love to do at home, because you have so much downtime on the road before shows. If I’m flying show to show, I probably won’t bring it because it’ll just be a little bit of a hassle going through security, but whenever we’re on a bus tour, I definitely always bring it.”
She’s also more keen on gaming while on tour than working on new music. “I’m not really a big fan of recording while I’m touring because it’s hard for me to split my energy and attention that way,” she says. “But now the Match My Freak Tour is done, and I’m just doing more spot dates, a couple here and there. So, now I’m really kind of more focused on creative mode.”
After over a decade as a recording artist and with seven albums under her belt, what lessons has she learned? “I think the biggest thing that I really rely on now is following my instincts and being really true to who I am and staying in touch with what I like and what is inspiring me,” Tinashe says. “Continuing to use that as motivation to push myself forward and kind of block out all the noise. And so I think it’s important to always trust those instincts. And yeah, be your biggest advocate.”
