Single: Stay Away From The Water ft. Dominic Brown
Artist: Coke
Label: Studio60 Records, Dahlhouse Entertainment
Release Date: July 20th, 2017
Genre: R&B, Latin Rock
Written by: Airemese Smith
Produced by: FancyN
Length: 3:35

Stay Away From The Water is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Coke featuring guest vocals from R&B singer Dominic Brown. The song serves as the follow up single to her top 5 hit, Now You See Me. Seeking to impact radio on July 21st, 2017 by Studio60 Records with additional promotion by Dahlhouse Entertainment, it comes just days after Coke confirmed the completion of her sophomore album, GOLD. Written solely by Airemese Smith, the production is handled by FancyN. Stay Away From The Water is a mid-tempo Latin-inspired song, consisting of Latin percussion, acoustic guitar lines and riffs that are heavily sampled from the 1999 hit single "Maria Maria" by American Latin rock band Santana. Serving a much more urban R&B sound than she ever has in a solo song, she trades her alternative sound for a sultry Dominic Brown appearance, the catchy single featuring deep sexy voices from both singers as sing-rap their way through the sinister song. Lyrically, Coke and Dominic Brown persuades someone under the influence to join them on the beach shore, in hopes that they'll drown and kill them.

On April 30th, news broke of arrests made at a Japanese airport involving Coke and Aikya Balan. Their personal assistants were found guilty of attempting to smuggle drugs into the strict country, trying to sneak in 2 full bottles of Adderrall with Coke's prescribed Lithium medication for her bipolar disorder. Despite the fact that only then assistants were found guilty after airport security conducted a private investigation, the media blamed Coke and began spreading rumors of an alleged pill addiction, a theory courtesy of "anonymous sources". Coke didn't even take the time out to deny such ridiculous tabloid gossip, her team refusing to comment on the situation at all. Stay Away From the water draws inspiration from the groundless controversy, mocking all speculation that questions if Coke is a functioning drug addict without actually dismissing the conversation. Whilst writing the song, the singer definitely did her research, using popular songs about bad trips as reference for the song's lyrics. The two tracks that had the biggest impact on the song include the iconic song often thought of as an ode to LSD, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles (which is referenced in the song) and also Jody Reynolds' all time classic, "Endless Sleep", the song that inspired Coke to personify herself as the sea, something she hadn't thought of on earlier demos of the song. Dominic Brown didn't become apart of the process until after the song was written, the two had plans to collaborate but they didn't come to fruition until Coke showed Dominic Brown the track.

Stay Away From The Water is a mid-tempo Latin-inspired song, that consists of Latin percussion and "slinky acoustic guitar lines. Written in the key of C minor, it has a tempo of 96-100 beats per minute in compound quadruple time. The song follows a chord progression of Cm–Fm–Cm, and Coke's and Dominic's vocals spanning from C4 to G5. Billboard editor Andrew Unterberger noted that the track has "a catchy groove" to it, deeming it a sure-fire hit. Okoth-Obbo described the lyrics as straddling the line between "suicidal and carnally amusing", the lyrics that advertise suicide as reckless fun accidentally giving the song a second meaning. He went on to praise both singers' controlled delivery, as well as implied that if it wasn't for the story behind it, the song could be taken in many different ways by listeners.


Coke
Dominic Brown
Both

Let's make it something worth resenting
That rabbit hole has gotta be your favorite clinic
That's my kinda prison, oh yes
It's your birthday but your mind's still pending
Get your licks in, the situation's real sticky
It gets tricky down by the bay
That pill can carry you away
But can it carry all of your deadweight?

Give me all you got
Or give it all you got not tuh
Give me all you got
All in, ain't talking poker
If you're not
Stay away from the wa-ta-ta-tuh

Let's make it something worth regretting
Ima end ya but it's better if you let me
Lightweight rolling heavy, aint the first
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and the matching fur
Today's the perfect day to splurge, get it how you living
Step a little closer, baby, how ya feeling?
My shore's a little cold but my hold is warmer
I'm not what you think, are you shy with transformers or are you Shia with Transformers?

Give me all you got
Or give it all you got not tuh
Give me all you got
All in, ain't talking poker
If you're not
Stay away from the wa-ta-ta-tuh

Stay away from me
Nothing's what it seems
The secret you can't keep
An astral projection of what you feel down deep
My waves crash
You get a little dizzy
Your world is spinning
Your world is spinning

Let's make it something worth repenting
Can't live a life without facing consequences
Karma's a bitch but girl, I'm relentless
High's right, stronger than the wind is
That's how you lose all direction, you should just take directions from me
Before you come down, come on down by the beach
Now you see me, the situation's real sticky (real sticky)
It gets tricky down by the bay
Give me all you got
Or give it all you got to walk away
You wanna know my aim, I shouldn't even have to say
Connect the dots, no polka!

Give me all you got
Or give it all you got not tuh
Give me all you got
All in, ain't talking poker
If you're not
Stay away from the wa-ta-ta-tuh

All you got
Give me all you got
Or stay away from the fucking water!