''Black Water'' is the third mixtape by American recording artist

Tinashe Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe ( ; born February 6, 1993), known mononymously as Tinashe, is an American singer, dancer, and actress. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Tinashe moved to Pasadena as a child to pursue a career in entertainment. Her notab ...

, 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 The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

prior to releasing the mixtape. As executive producer, Tinashe enlisted a variety of musical producers to work with her on the mixtape, including

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da ( , a play on "boy wonder"), is a Jamaican-Canadian Record production, record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto raised producer has work ...

, Best Kept Secret, Dev Hynes,

Frank Dukes Adam King Feeney (born September 12, 1983), better known as Ging and by his former stage name Frank Dukes, is a Canadian musician, record producer, and songwriter. A prolific producer, he has worked with artists including Camila Cabello ("Havana ...

, Gabriel Lambrith, !llmind, Inc, J. Oliver, K-BeatZ, Karon Graham, Misfitz Sounds, Osinachi,

Ryan Hemsworth Ryan Hemsworth (born 23 April 1990) is a Canadian record producer and DJ. He specialises in electronic music and sampling. He has produced tracks for Tinashe, Tory Lanez, Mitski, and E-40. Biography Raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Hemsworth a ...

Vinylz Anderson Hernandez (born September 2, 1989),Rys, Dan (July 11, 2013)"‘Magna Carta Holy Grail’ Behind The Scenes: Five Producers Who Helped Craft The Album". ''XXL (magazine), XXL''. Accessed on July 11, 2013. professionally known as Vinylz, ...

, besides being executive producer of the mixtape Tinashe also wrote all of the mixtapes songs. Musically, ''Black Water'' doesn't stray far from the same PBR&B and

alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...

sound that '' In Case We Die'' included, the mixtape also touches on several new genres such as

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

and

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

. The mixtape was preceded by the release of the lead single "Vulnerable" which was released on November 20, 2013. ''Black Water'' received positive reviews from music critics who stated 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 TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

and

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

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 RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

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'' :

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

and

Mýa Mya Marie Harrison (; born October 10, 1979), (stylized as Mýa), is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born into a musical family, she studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance as a child. Initially, Mýa began her career as a VJ ...

via fans on social networking site Twitter. MuuMuse.com commented on her growth in this mixtape since her past mixtapes saying "like her past two free offerings 2012′s In Case We Die and Reverie — Black Water plays host to plenty of sensual vocals, downtempo beats and murky, The Weeknd-leaning mood music for your listening enjoyment past the midnight hour." ''

Fact Magazine A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...

'' criticized her vocals falling flat at times saying "The biggest knock on Tinashe has been a voice that often falters at higher registers and tends to get too breathy: that problem is particularly noticeable on the Inc.-produced ‘Middle of Nowhere’, and she's practically whispering on closer ‘Ain’t Ready’. Yet, when she balances the breathiness with something more concrete, it pays off. She explores her full range on ‘Black Water’, knowing when to give a light touch to a melody reminiscent of 90s R&B."

Track listing

Credits adapted from

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

and BMI.* * ;Sampling credits * "Vulnerable" samples "On Sight" and "I'm In It" performed by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

* "Stunt" samples "Cop Blood" by

* "Just a Taste" samples "

Anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints ...

" performed by

Tony! Toni! Toné! Tony! Toni! Toné! was an American soul/ R&B band from Oakland, California, popular during the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s. During the band's heyday, it was composed of D'wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Raphael Saadiq ...

Release history

References

External links

Tinashe's Official Website
* * {{Tinashe 2013 mixtape albums Albums produced by Best Kept Secret (production team) Tinashe albums Albums produced by Frank Dukes Albums produced by Dev Hynes Albums produced by Boi-1da Albums produced by Vinylz Albums produced by Illmind