Better Than: Any other night at any other Finnegan’s.

Remind me to hit up every Malibu-sponsored event for the rest of my life. Watching Ciara for free was already a sweet deal. But free booze, t-shirts, and guac and chips felt like My Super Sweet 16 birthday party.

And in case at any point in the night you couldn’t recall what the spike in your “Liquid Sunshine” was (a coco-orange rum delight), the Malibu-branded beach balls, pillows, headphones, straw holders, or USB thumb-drives (seriously) would trigger your memory.
A photo stand let rum-giddy showgoers take pictures with quirky props like oversized sunglasses, hula skirts, and the feathered carnival headpieces that the Malibu babes were wearing. There was even a DJ Scratch Academy booth where you could walk up and pretend to be a real DJ by making those scratchy-scratchy noises on the decks.
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“Basic Instinct (U Got Me),” the opening track from Ciara’s new album, starts with a syncopated guitar riff lifted from “Eye of the Tiger.” The track is half fight song, half apology for Fantasy Ride’s lack of a chart-destroying hit: “See I was on the red carpet/When I shoulda been in the studio, layin’ down hot shit.” Self-awareness turns out to be a good look for Ciara, though the song works because the muscular track totally undermines her self-critique, like she’s come out swinging because we were all too stupid to realize how hot her last album actually was. She even directs some preemptive sass at her would-be haters on the net (it’s like she can see us dusting off our Sharon Stone jokes), snarling, “You can go and write your blog, I don’t need your feedback.” J’accuse!
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On her fourth album, Ciara works extensively with Terius “The-Dream” Nash and Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, the duo who collaborated on four of Fantasy Ride’s best tracks. Unsurprisingly, the move fosters the singer’s most consistent and unified release. For the most part, Nash and Stewart alter their ever-present sound just enough to avoid repeating themselves, albeit while incorporating some of their telltale sonic imprints — the dive-bombing synths, the subtle background-vocal chirps, the unrivaled sonic opulence. They cover each base with great accuracy; there’s a bombastic intro, a sleazy club track, some playful pop, and a ballad with a feather-light touch among them.
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Ciara Brings It Back
With her new album Basic Instinct, Ciara sends a message

Ciara demands attention well before she commands the DJ booth at her album listening party at Veranda in the West Village, where she politely asks the crowd to ignore their cell phones while the album plays. The 808 kicks in, the bass drops and soon Ciara—who, at barely 25, is one of the youngest women in the R&B/hip-hop game—is dancing to her own music.

“I called this album Basic Instinct because it really is about taking it back to basics,” she tells me over the bass line of “Gimmie Dat,” the latest single off the record, which drops December 14. “I wanted to make something for the die-hard Ciara fans, something with that street edge to it.” She smiles, flips her hair over her shoulder and adds, “It’s also about fitting in with the hard rappers—being a female in that arena.”
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Express.co.uk

ONE of the big players in contemporary R’n'B (nothing to do with what used to be called R’n'B by the way) model and actress Ciara is actually one of the easier artists to like.
Whipping along at a fair crack, this includes the super-sexy hit single Ride, featuring Ludacris and the Euro-flavoured Turn It Up with soul superstar Usher.
Even if it does come dangerously close to offensive language on the title track, Ciara’s voice and her vibe are generally rather sweet. 3/5 Source.

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It’s come late, but Basic Instinct is one of the best RnB albums of the year.
Ciara’s hoity-toity brand of charisma can feel like a lack of personality, her unapproachable demeanour precluding warmth, an endless turnover of producers clouding her identity. From a standing start, she was an RnB/crunk star, scoring a number one straight off with Goodies, but innovation and momentum tailed off as a succession of collaborators tried to nail a signature sound – each album has had its moments, but focus has been fleeting, with credits as long as your arm. This time Ciara’s sparing with her commissions, handing over 90% of Basic Instinct to canny Rihanna/Beyoncé producers Terius ‘The-Dream’ Nash and ‘Tricky’ Stewart in a bid for sharp beats, pop nous and character.
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Always a strong singles artist, Ciara has struggled to find enough memorable material to fill an album. She comes closer than ever on her fourth full-length, Basic Instinct. The big difference is her choice of collaborators: Hitmakers Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, the duo behind Rihanna’s ”Umbrella” and Beyoncé’s ”Single Ladies,” produced and/or co-wrote most of these tracks. Their caffeinated synth-pop beats and wiggling melodies play precisely to Ciara’s strengths. B+

Download These:
Lusty Ludacris collab Ride at myspace.com
Come-hither ballad You Can Get It at youtube.com
Source.

Ciara first came to prominence in 2004 with her debut single and album Goodies. Whilst it wasn’t a huge seller here in the UK it still managed to reach Gold certification and sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide. The single Goodies also entered the UK charts at number one giving Ciara her first, and only, UK number to date. In 2006 she released The Evolution and 2009 she released Fantasy Ride. Both albums under-performed compared to Goodies and Ciara has experienced diminishing returns with each project. Her latest album Basic Instinct is about to drop after experiencing endless delays over the course of 2010.

Basic Instinct has been labelled as Ciara’s last chance by some industry insiders. With her records selling progressively less with each release, she’s in danger of losing her significance in the current market. The outlook so far for Basic Instinct is pretty bleak. With the changing release date and no hit single to launch it from, we’re a little worried about how the record’s going to perform. The lead single Ride failed to impact in the UK and only reached 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Follow-up singles Gimmie Dat and Speechless have fared even worse with the former enjoying a very low profile UK release. After listening to Basic Instinct you soon realise that if this project fails it will be a real shame. The album is Ciara’s most adventurous, consistent and enjoyable to date but for some reason her promotion isn’t supporting that fact.
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