[6] By early September 2013, the album was eventually postponed due to Richard, Aubrey O'Day, Aundrea Fimbres and Shannon Bex deciding to reunite as Danity Kane.

[7][8] In an interview with Billboard magazine on March 13, 2014, when asked about the status of Blackheart, Richard explained that it was still in production, and was the second installment of three albums to be ended with Redemptionheart.

Richard explained in an interview with Billboard in October that her grandmother's death and her father's diagnosis with cancer inspired her to prove that she had a story to tell as well as wanting to make the people she had lost proud.

British newspaperThe Guardian described Richard as "too good to ignore" in its review of Blackheart, stating: The most ambitious and revelatory album of the year might be the lowest-profile, despite (or perhaps because of) its creator's mainstream connections.

Dawn Richard's Blackheart is a wild ride through the kind of constantly shapeshifting electronics that make everyone else's so-called "innovation" sound timid – and the emotional peaks and troughs give a sense of purpose to her experimentation.

It starts with a piercing [a capella] cry – "I thought I lost it all" – and its twists and turns thereafter take in Greek mythology and feminist retellings of the Billie Jean groupie archetype, as Richard tells a tale of failure, loss and ultimate triumph.

There are brief reminders of Björk's Medúlla in the amphibious vocal layering of "Titans", Moby's "Go" in the frantic rhythms of "Calypso"[,] or Aaliyah's "What If" in "Adderall/Sold"'s lurch into rock, but they are only the barest hints.