Tinashe Reveals Dating Standards: No Broke Boys, No Short Kings

Tinashe opened up about her dating standards and relationship patterns during her appearance on “Call Her Daddy,” revealing why she’s staying single while focusing on her career and personal growth.

The singer got real about what she’s learned from past relationships, specifically calling out broke boys as a dealbreaker.

“I’ve dated a broke guy before. It’s not it,” Tinashe said, admitting she even became a sugar mama at one point. “There was a couple times I was taking cash out of the ATM. I was like here you go. I was pissed too.”

Beyond financial stability, Tinashe outlined other standards she’s developed over the years.

She prefers guys who aren’t heavily active on social media, have under 1,000 followers, and stand at least 6’5″ tall.

“I would like it,” she said about the height requirement. “You know, 6’5. Amazing. Fine. Pick me up and throw me on your shoulder. No short kings.”

She joked about dating a short king early on, saying he was “short and broke,” which she’s determined never to repeat.

The bigger issue Tinashe addressed was her pattern of ending up in situationships, those undefined, emotionally draining connections that lack commitment.

“I think it’s easy when you’re busy. You got a lot going on. You’re like, ‘Let’s just, you know, let’s see how this goes,'” she explained. “There’s a lot of upfront chemistry and excitement and that purposefulness sometimes is what’s missing.”

According to Tinashe, what makes situationships particularly painful is the back-and-forth dynamic where feelings shift unexpectedly.

“I’ve experienced a situation where it’s gone back and forth. I don’t want anything serious. He has feelings. I want something serious. He doesn’t want. Back and forth. The switch, the flip,” she said.

These extended situations can trap people for years, she noted, because they start with mutual agreement to keep things casual.

The core issue Tinashe identified is emotional unavailability. She described the painful experience of being close to someone who remains emotionally distant.

“There’s it’s hard when someone’s you can’t tap into them. Like even if you’re close, if you’re physically in the same room with them or like you’re touching them and they still seem far away and you can never get in. I think that’s an impenetrable boundary,” she said.

This emotional distance is what inspired her song “I’d Rather Be Alone.”

The track explores holding onto hope that someone will change, only to realize they’re too emotionally guarded to ever truly connect.

“I think there’s just like an avoidance or a distance that I can’t quite [describe],” Tinashe explained about the song’s subject matter.

Despite her focus on dating standards, Tinashe emphasized she’s not currently dating. She’s prioritizing her career and personal fulfillment, having learned that jumping into relationships too early could have derailed her professional goals.

Her new album Pop Star, which dropped this week, reflects this evolution.

The project represents Tinashe refusing to be boxed in by industry expectations or genre limitations. She’s made records that feel like dance, Hip-Hop, pop, and R&B, all under the umbrella of what she defines as pop star music.