The song that arrived without a release plan
“They’re On” is an unreleased Tinashe recording produced by Mustard, then still widely billed as DJ Mustard. It surfaced online in March 2016 and was covered immediately by established music publications, several of which treated it casually as “new music.” No evidence, however, shows that RCA formally released it as a single or that Tinashe authorized the upload through her own channels.
That makes “They’re On” different from a wholly obscure vault file but still outside Tinashe’s official discography. It received press, entered DJ circulation, and sounded commercially finished to contemporary critics. It did not receive an authorized storefront listing, official artwork, label announcement, sanctioned video, or confirmed place on Joyride.
The chronology is slightly tangled. HipHop-N-More added “They’re On” to a March 14, 2016 post initially devoted to another leaked track. A DJ compilation index dated March 22 also listed clean, dirty, and extended edits, suggesting rapid professional-DJ circulation. The clearest wave of editorial coverage came March 23, when Stereogum published its review, SoulBounce discussed the track, and Urban Daily reported it as another Mustard-produced Tinashe song.
March 23 is therefore the defining public date, while March 14 is the earliest located report of its emergence. Neither should be mistaken for a verified commercial-release date.
A documented reunion with Mustard
The production credit is unusually consistent. Stereogum, SoulBounce, Urban Daily, Revolt, and Brazilian outlet Popline all identified Mustard as producer in contemporaneous reports. No credible competing production claim has surfaced.
That attribution carried obvious commercial meaning. Mustard had produced Tinashe’s 2014 breakthrough “2 On,” and a Sony-hosted RCA press release for its video identified the song as the first official single from her debut album. “They’re On” reunited singer and producer while echoing the title of their hit closely enough to invite sequel talk, even though its message and vocal stance were different.
Songwriting is less fully documented. Secondary metadata lists often credit Tinashe, but no located label credit sheet or public rights entry provides a complete “They’re On” writing team. Mustard’s production does not automatically prove a writing share, and Tinashe’s performance does not by itself establish sole authorship. The safe credits are Tinashe as vocalist and Mustard as producer; the complete composition credits remain publicly unresolved.
The title itself is unstable. Fan session lists have circulated the alternative “Take It,” reflecting the repeated command in the song. A February 2016 Popjustice post reproduced a fan list that joined the names as “Take It/They’re On.” Because neither title appears in an official release database, “They’re On” is best treated as the widely reported public title, with “Take It” noted as an alleged working alias rather than a separate confirmed recording.
What contemporary critics heard
Unlike the other songs in the March leak cluster, “They’re On” generated enough immediate criticism to support a musical account without relying solely on anonymous uploads. Stereogum called the beat lithe and club-ready, emphasizing its sharp, restless character. SoulBounce described heavy bass and an uptempo instrumental, reading the song as a self-reliance anthem built for the club. Revolt heard familiarity in the reunion but argued that Tinashe’s adaptability kept it engaging.
Those descriptions align around a clear picture: compact West Coast rhythmic minimalism, negative space around the vocal, and percussion that turns repetition into momentum. Mustard’s production style was frequently caricatured as a fixed formula, but “They’re On” uses that economy as a platform for Tinashe’s phrasing. She alternates melody with a firmer, near-rapped cadence, making ambition feel bodily rather than abstract.
The song’s central language is about taking responsibility, working, and reaching for what nobody will simply hand over. This is a thematic paraphrase, not a claim that every unofficial transcription is exact. Its attitude differs from the intoxicated pleasure of “2 On”: where the earlier hit celebrated being fully inside the night, “They’re On” turns the idea of being “on” toward readiness and self-command.
That makes the title’s ambiguity productive. “They” may be watching, doubting, or applying pressure; Tinashe’s answer is to remain activated. The track’s club mechanics and its work ethic reinforce each other. It is motivational music without the swelling chords usually associated with empowerment pop.
Joyride in label purgatory
The song appeared at precisely the moment when Tinashe’s second-album campaign seemed to have motion but no destination. On March 10, she told The Washington Post that she had no new release date for Joyride. She was already touring, and she said she had been sitting on much of the music while finishing and legal questions remained.
Contemporary coverage often assumed “They’re On” might appear on the album. Stereogum carefully said that tracks circulating at the time “could” end up there. Popline was more explicit about the extra-official nature of the songs reaching the web and connected that activity to repeated RCA delays. Those reports document expectation, not a confirmed track list.
Later history settled the catalog question. RCA’s official Apple Music listing for Nightride dates that 15-song project to November 4, 2016; “They’re On” is not included. The final Joyride followed on April 13, 2018 without it. Tinashe subsequently told Teen Vogue that the album had passed through multiple incarnations, making any reconstruction from early leaks inherently provisional.
No public statement explains the omission. It may have been a promotional experiment, an abandoned album candidate, a song withheld because of business considerations, or simply a recording that leaked before decisions were final. It would be irresponsible to select one explanation without documentation.
Why it looked like an obvious single
In retrospect, “They’re On” appears tailor-made for a narrative the label might have wanted: reunite Tinashe with the producer behind her biggest hit, invoke “2 On” without duplicating it, and foreground her performance skills over a concise club record. Contemporary writers heard that potential immediately. Stereogum’s frustration with the label was not neutral reporting, but it captured the prevailing critical question—if this song sounded so usable, why was the campaign stalled?
Yet obviousness can be a trap. Tinashe’s work had always exceeded the narrow lane created by “2 On.” *Time’s review of Aquarius praised the balance between experimental R&B and crisp mainstream hooks. Returning to Mustard could signal continuity, but building a second album around a backward-looking title might also have reinforced the market’s limited picture of her.
That is interpretation, not a documented reason for shelving the track. It helps explain why “They’re On” remains compelling: it can be heard both as a missed hit and as evidence of the commercial template Tinashe was trying to navigate.
The correct verdict
“They’re On” is a widely reported 2016 leak or unofficially circulating loosie, not a verified RCA single. Tinashe performs it; Mustard produced it; “Take It” is an alleged alternate title; and the complete writing credits remain unavailable in reliable public documentation. It was discussed as possible Joyride material but appeared on neither Nightride nor Joyride.
No current rights-holder YouTube upload directly tied to the recording could be verified, so unofficial reposts should not be embedded or described as official. March 23, 2016 remains its most meaningful public date because that was when multiple established outlets turned a circulating file into a documented cultural event.
For one week, “They’re On” sounded like the straightforward answer to Tinashe’s complicated second-album problem. Its failure to become an official release is precisely what makes it endure: not as a secret single, but as a sharply preserved possibility from a campaign defined by them.