Tinashe refuses to retreat from the unknowns of life — or the music industry — but instead, embraces them. That’s what makes the success of her cheeky, innuendo- filled hit, “Nasty,” taste oh so sweet.

“You never really know when that’s going to happen. You can’t really predict it,” she said of the song, which peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100, her second-highest charting track as well as No. 2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. “It’s been a blessing and something that I’m just super excited about.”

Leading off her album, “Quantum Baby,” out now, “Nasty” rocketed after a social media user combined a snippet of the song with a clip that had already made its viral rounds. The song also garnered acknowledgment or some form of shout-out from icons like Beyoncé and Janet Jackson, as well Christina Aguilera and Anitta. Her standout lyric of “match my freak” has become a popular catch phrase.

This project marks her seventh studio album and the second of a trilogy. The title nods quantum physics — she hopes fans will enter her personal universe and rediscover her at the most fundamental, molecular level.

“I’ve been really lucky since leaving my major label, going independent, being able to focus on whatever I want to make creatively. And I’ve really honed that process over the last three albums,” she said, whose previous album, “BB/ANG3L,” was released last year. “This second part of the trilogy is really focused on getting to know me a little bit deeper.”

The eight-track project, clocking in just over a swift 22 minutes, features production from Nosaj Thing, Ricky Reed and sdtroy, with Tinashe writing on every song.

Known for genre- bending, often fusing R&B, pop, dance and electronic elements with precise performance choreography to match, Tinashe debuted in 2014 with “Aquarius,” her highest- charting album to date. Despite not matching that success and often living in musical limbo, she chose to leave the support of RCA’s major-label machine because of their rocky relationship. However, she has kept her career afloat, thanks in part to a loyal fan base.

“When I first came on the scene, I was young, I was green. I feel like I’ve learned so much and gained so much. First of all, self-confidence,” Tinashe explained. “Being a young woman in these usually male- dominated spaces, there’s usually never any other women in the room. And you’d come in with a producer who’s made all these amazing records and you don’t wanna tell them what to do — and they’re not probably gonna listen to you anyways. So, I think now, I just have a much stronger sense of what I want to do and being able to give that direction.”

What feels best to Tinashe now? It’s being free from creative confinement and battling industry politics over her career. Her trendy style and fashion- forward eye makes her a frequent front-row guest at fashion shows and red-carpet events, and she’s expressed an interest in returning to acting. In October, she kicks off her 23-date Match My Freak world tour.

The “All Hands on Deck” artist has managed to steady the ship of her career, and she’s willing to live with the results of navigating the turbulent music industry seas — as long as she’s the captain.

“Finding contentment in yourself and in your artistry is super important for a music artist in terms of feeling good about what you do because the music industry is so volatile … where I started to feel that freedom and contentment was when I didn’t set any expectations for myself,” she said. “That’s really success right now, it’s just to make things that I love and to focus on creating great art that’s timeless.”