Black Water

### Producer(s)

Best Kept Secret, Boi-1da, Devonté Hynes, Dom Dolo, Fresh Ayr, Gabriel Lambirth, Ging, inc. no world, KyleYouMadeThat, !llmind, Mizfitz Soundz, Osinachi, Ryan Hemsworth, Tinashe & Vinylz

*Black Water* is the third mixtape by American recording artist Tinashe, first released on November 26, 2013 via INgrooves and her official website. The mixtape was released after the release of her second mixtape *Reverie* and also being signed to RCA prior to releasing the mixtape. The mixtape was preceded by the release of the lead single "Vulnerable" which was released on November 20, 2013. The album also reached the number one on DatPiff.com, with 48,000 downloads & 150,000 views on the site alone.

## Background

After a four-year stint in the pop-dance girl group *the Stunners*, Tinashe left the group to pursue a solo career. On December 20, 2011, Tinashe announced that she would be releasing a mixtape entitled In Case We Die in 2012. After four singles and reaching over one million digital downloads, Tinashe was signed to RCA Records with her official debut album to be released sometime in 2013. On August 5, 2012 Tinashe announced that she was ready to release her second project, titled Reverie. After uploading a trailer of the mixtape on her YouTube channel, it was confirmed that the name of the mixtape is *Reverie*. The official cover was revealed via Instagram on August 13, 2012. On September 1, 2012 she wrote to her followers on Twitter that Reverie will be released on September 6, 2012.

## Development

For the recording of the mixtape *Black Water* was self-composed and recorded and engineered entirely in Tinashe's bedroom, much like her previous work. For *Reverie*, Tinashe was the executive producer, however she did also work with various producers from her first project, *In Case We Die* such as K-BeatZ, Wes Tarte and B. Hendrixx as well as working with new producers BMarz, Nez & Rio, Best Kept Secret, Troobadore, Roc & Mayne, JRB The Producer, and xxyyxx.

Tinashe explained in an interview the meaning behind the mixtape *Black Water*:

> Black water really represents kind of, a period of time. Where it's at night and you know when water is very still and it looks like glass and it's black and you can't see, and I think that's sort of a metaphor for saying, you know the storm is coming, take advantage of this time when everything is all calm and peaceful, and that obviously is another metaphor meaning many other things.
>
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## Critical reception

Reviews for *Black Water* were generally positive reviews, with the comments on popular mixtape site DatPiff being positive, as well as receiving promotional space on the main page of DatPiff, and peaking at number five on the most downloaded chart on its first day of release and drawing comparisons to Aaliyah and Mýa via fans on social networking site Twitter. Music critics stated that she "has the most promising voices of the new generation of alt-R&B starlets," with some critics calling it "highly anticipated" and "must listen" and praised Tinashe's vocal growth. Other critics compared the mixtape to that of Janet Jackson, TLC and Aaliyah.

## Cut Songs

*Main article: Unreleased Songs*

* **Vulnerable (Video Version)**

## Trivia

* This is one of the mixtapes being recorded in Tinashe's bedroom.
	+ The other one being Reverie.

* "Vulnerable" samples "On Sight" and "I'm In It" performed by Kanye West
* "Stunt" samples "Cop Blood" by Frank Dukes
* "Just a Taste" samples "Anniversary" performed by Tony! Toni! Toné!.