Artist: Ciara
Album: Basic Instinct
Label: LaFace Records/Sony

Ciara has struggled as of late to hold a consistent fan base to `commercially’ support her studio efforts. 2009’s Fantasy Ride showed the first waning of the fan base Ciara built on 2004’s Goodies and 2006’s Ciara: The Evolution. ‘Fantasy Ride’ debuted at #3, but did so with nearly a 250,000 cut in album sales from the #1 bow of The Evolution. ‘Fantasy Ride’ ended up tanking and building very little buzz around its two most prominent singles, “Never Ever” featuring Young Jeezy and the Grammy-nominated “Love Sex Magic” featuring Justin Timberlake. Basic Instinct enters the market with lower expectations, but proves to be Ciara’s most focused and cohesive effort to date. First single “Ride” is Ciara’s steamiest, risqué single to date, but also finds the singer more invigorated than ever. `Basic Instinct’ is on pace to give Ciara her lowest sales numbers, but let’s face it – she’s in the majority now with so many unimpressive sales for capable, urban albums. `Basic Instinct’ may not buy `C’ any new fans (unfortunately), but this is her best album buy a mile.

The biggest factor that makes `Basic Instinct’ a capable effort is that the majority of the album is produced by R&B production stand-outs Christopher “Tricky” Stewart and Terius “The-Dream” Nash. 2009’s Fantasy Ride featured some excellent contributions from this team (“Like A Surgeon,” “Lover’s Thing,” etc.) and so an album produced prominently seems more than appropriate. Ciara opens the album with the aggressive, though censored “Basic Instinct (U Got Me)” which is an incredibly unique opening cut. Maybe it is a bit clunky considering how it changes from incredibly overt to more relaxed near the end in the `blink-of-an-eye,’ but I personally find the cut to be captivating and showing a completely different side of Ciara. On this cut, Tricky and The-Dream help to give Ciara more of a personality than she would havre possessed without them. The rapping by `C’ works surprisingly well (plenty of well-penned one-liners) and she follows it up with singing.

“Ride” is easily 2010’s steamiest single, accompanied by a music video that make anyone `hot and bothered.’ The production by Tricky is solid and the hook is both raunchy and addictive: “They love the way I ride it, They love the way I ride it, They love the way I ride it, They love the way I ride the beat like a freak…” Ludacris, the king of `freak’ adds another dimension to this slinky cut, making it a valedictory moment from `Basic Instinct.’ “Gimme Dat” is an uptempo, driving cut that propels the momentum of `Basic Instinct’ even further. Not far removed from 2006’s “Get Up,” this is another sensation cut filled with high energy where Ciara demands “Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie Dat (Bass!).”

“Heavy Rotation” is solid, but not spectacular. “Girls Get Your Money” is a better cut, as is “Yeah I Know,” which proves to be another solid dance-pop track. Both cuts are the ideal length, which bodes well in their favor. “Speechless” is longer, clocking in over four minutes, but is a `signature’ cut. Repetitive, “Speechless” epitomizes a cut that sounds most effective with a singer like Ciara.

“You Can Get It” is another solid, steamy cut. A cut like this finds producers working well with Ciara’s somewhat limited vocal abilities, making them shine. “Turn It Up” has a Euro-pop edge to it (my least favorite trend as of late), but it works. The main problem is that “Turn It Up” is less distinct and more forgettable than the majority of cuts. “Wants for Dinner” is a better cut, though closer “I Run It,” a ballad clocking in over five minutes proves to be one of the albums best cuts and biggest surprises. Ciara coos “I run it, you know I run it… boy you know I run it, you know I run it.” “I Run It” is a steamy, solid gem.

Overall, Basic Instinct is Ciara’s best effort. To say a lot has changed’ might be an overstatement, but the material this go around is more captivating and gives the singer a more distinct personality. Ciara won’t garner any vocal awards or buzz around this effort, but she makes an album of addictive dance-pop numbers that are radio-ready and capable.


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