Music Review: Ciara - The Evolution

Two years is not a whole lot of time but in the music business, it can be. In the two-plus years since Ciara's debut single "Goodies," she's sold many albums, won a Grammy, and suffered through a public relationship (and breakup) with rapper Bow Wow. Now, she has used that whirlwind two-year period as the inspiration for her sophomore album The Evolution. Filled with many radio-ready songs produced by top hitmakers, The Evolution is a very enjoyable album even if it's not exactly as profound as it wants to be.

Considering that Ciara was slapped with the label "crunk n' b" after "Goodies," it's funny that the very first song on The Evolution, "That's Right," was produced by crunk pioneer Lil' Jon. However, this time around, Lil' Jon's beat is actually liberating rather than limiting. The song begins with Ciara saying "Every time I call he come, but it's time I think about me... and what I need" which is one of many possible references to her high-profile ex. The song itself has Ciara blowing off a night with her man to go out and have fun with her friends.

Ciara highlights the double standards in how the actions of men and women are perceived in "Like A Boy." She rattles off all the things men can get away with and wonders if she did then "would the rules change up or would they still apply." The interesting thing about this song is that Ciara doesn't sound so much angry or annoyed by the double standards so much as a little envious. "Like A Boy" does kind of make you wonder why women put up with things that men would not.

You get transported back to the 1980s on the excellent lead single "Promise." Producer Polow Da Don provides Ciara with a slinky, sexy beat that's worthy of Prince himself. The lyrics don't exactly break new territory but Ciara sounds pretty good as she coos her way through the song.

On the song "Get In, Fit In," Ciara encourages the listener to "Take a chance and try something different / Don't be scared / You might make a difference..." and she certainly does here. In style, it feels more like an electronic song than anything R & B. She adopts a robotic, monotone style for the lyrics and the "da da da" bridge. If that's not unusual enough, she follows U2's lead and bungles numbers in a foreign language (she says "one, two, three" in Japanese but messes up the "three").

Article Author: Sterfish

From music to manga and television to comics, Sterfish enjoys it all. He's older than you think and younger than you expect.

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