Ciara
Ciara: The Evolution

THE REVIEW

The figure of Ciara is an authentic monument to a trend that comes and goes over the span of a few years, a fashion, a flicker that will hardly be able to rise again after its tragic departure from the spotlight and the charts. A protégé of Missy Elliott in the years when she was still active and popular, Ciara Princess Harris was crowned by critics and others as the "Princess of Crunk", an honorific baptism somewhat forced (also due to the preference to frame musical artists in "royal" territories, preferably famous or highlights in a specific genre) but that perfectly conveyed the idea of how that swirling hip-hop/dance/R&B mix with reggaeton and electronic influences was so popular in the United States in the mid-last decade, when the star-spangled top tens were still dominated by "ghetto-black" culture and the holy anointment of the synth pop revival and the europop culture from the Old Continent had yet to arrive. While Ciara's debut and post-debut, respectively Goodies and Ciara:The Evolution, were acclaimed and sold millions of copies, the latest Fantasy Ride and Basic Instinct received the infamous mark of failure and rejection, despite the protagonist's attempt to flirt with new sound stimuli and duet with top names like Justin Timberlake (see Love Sex Magic). Currently, Ciara seems to be regaining her lost strength with the latest catastrophic Basic Instinct, a work even opposed by her former record label, and is preparing to promote her fifth unreleased work, anticipated by some intriguing tracks and the first official single Body Party, whose cover artwork will certainly satisfy the needs of this site's erotomaniacs and not only (I recommend checking it out and then...).

With the second album Ciara:The Evolution in 2006, Ms. Harris was already a prominent name in the R&B/hip hop sector and successful songs like Goodies, Oh, 1,2 Step and the feature on Missy Elliott's Lose Control offered a magnificent counterpoint to the multimillion-selling Goodies from 2004, a sort of cliché-anthem to American club hip hop culture of the early 2000s. The post-debut partially overcame the overly warm embrace of the debut and proposed a mix of ghetto-style sounds much more akin to contemporary R&B, non-danceable hip hop, and ballads with a sensual and intriguing mood. This resulted in a sonically simple, easy listening yet sincerely inspired work, trendy but not too much with the period's vogue, and much more mischievous and "adult" compared to Goodies. Commercially, the new proposal managed to replicate on the Billboard charts but without reaching the intoxicating numbers of the debut and without producing a bright group of number ones like 1,2 Step and Goodies. Nonetheless, we were far from the collapse of the last five years, and that small taste of sunset did not reveal the total lunar eclipse that would happen recently.

Spicy, cheeky, and fairly sparkling, The Evolution has several standout moments in its tracklist, perhaps a bit too full of interludes, intros, outros, and various others. An imperishable highlight is the second single Promise, a sort of delicious revival of the best sensual-R&B moments of veteran Janet Jackson (to whom Ciara seems terribly devoted); following, in scattered order of value, are Like a Boy, a ghetto-style piece without too much emphasis on "black" influences, the magnetic danceable R&B of Bang It Up, the vaguely romantic midtempo So Hard, and the further Jacksonian inspiration in Make It Last Forever. Also significant are the Crunk legacy of Get Up and Get In, Fit In, the latter vaguely synth, and the duet with the then monumental (by Yankee hip hop standards) 50 Cent Can't Leave 'Em Alone, a sort of moderately sweetened R&B ballad.

Currently in a declining phase but with a winning double strike: this was Ciara with the most complex "ghetto" contaminations, frantic movements, and rather elaborate choreographies. Awaiting an increasingly unlikely recovery, The Evolution is perhaps the best way to extract a significant piece of 2000s pop opposed by the calm of new fashions and still hopeful of finally setting sail the sails of its galleons and navigating the stormy seas of showbiz.

Ciara, Ciara: The Evolution

That's Right - Like a Boy - The Evolution of Music (Interlude) - Promise - I Proceed - Can't Leave 'Em Alone - C.R.U.S.H. - My Love - The Evolution of Dance (Interlude) - Make It Last Forever - Bang It Up - Get Up