ciara Posted August 2 Posted August 2 ** This is not in any way to bash Ciara. It's constructive criticism. This is a place of concern from a DAY 1 STAN. I defend and fight for my fave but I ALWAYS keep it real, despite what others may believe ** ** Also no one is forcing you to read any of this. This is me ranting for the many Ciara stans that are afraid to speak up* BEFORE I DRAG FAVE; here's a little praise moment... Before we get started. Let's address something real quick. I know some of you are at the ready with the same stale shade but at the end of the day Ciara has sold 45-50 million records worldwide. You can say she needs to book a stage and post that stale gif of her sales decline but at the end of the day she is still pulling numbers, booking stages and achieving platinum singles 20 years into her career. She's managed to put a platinum song each album cycle and that's something that's quite impressive considering how bad the climate of music is for black female R&B/pop artists. Not many artists can say they have a platinum song on each of their albums, so yes I will be flexing that. She's obviously not the main it pop girl she was from 2004-2008 (BUT Those years alone outsell many of your faves btw; so think before you speak). Her comeback in 2013 proved that she didn't need to be as big as we was to kind of leave a mark. . Her independent single Level Up is 2X Platinum and close to being 3X platinum soon. Yes that's a big deal. Most independent artist struggle to go Gold. She's been able to book award show performances almost every year despite not having smash hit singles; which seems to be the requirement nowadays and not talent. Respectively, Ciara is a success in her own right considering all that was done to stop her. NOW..... what I want to amplify on here with this thread is the disappointment I've felt over the past few years ever with her since she's gone independent. While yes it was a power move to go indie. I don't think she was truly prepared for it the way she believed she was. The only good thing that came from her departing ways with her last major label was her ability to purchase her masters. This is actually a big flex to say you own your masters. Not many artists can say that. She has at least 6-7 good songs that will keep making her bank for the rest of her life. So that's a WIN. Top Things I want Ciara to start or stop doing: 1. Stop doing trap/rap singles. This is never worked for her in the past and it's not going to work now. Especially now. It's corny. It's unauthentic. Run it Up does not sound like something people will take you serious for. This is why black twitter keeps dragging you and thinks you make kids bop music. It also doesn't really align with the person you portray to be on social media TODAY. Which goes on to my next point. 2. Stop mixing your Christian/Religious image with your artist persona. I'm not saying you are not allowed to practice your faith but your artist persona is not based off that. It's never been and most of your fans don't care for a gospel single coming from you. It's confusing and also not all of your fans practice your same faith. It just doesn't seem smart from a business standpoint and I'm not sure why you feel the need to shove down a Christian song every year now; all while dropping songs like Run It Up. Let's be freaking for real. Girl you are popping that coochie and booty at 300 mph in 80% of your videos. Your stan base was built off you dancing, beauty and sex appeal. That's what we WANT. This is why we love you. Keep your religious believes separate. Go join the church choir in Seattle and make it a side hobby if you have to but don't go mainstream with it. 3. Start working with completely NEW producers and writers. The past is the past and leave it. LEAVE R. CITY aka THERON THOMAS AND/OR TIMOTHY A.I THOMAS. It's time for new energy and to part pays with people that are obviously not doing anything for you creatively but giving you scraps and microwaved leftover songs other artist rejected. While he's responsible for Level Up. The success of Level Up really got your head fave. The song was questionably just a viral moment. The song is not even Top 10 Ciara songs if you aks me. The jersey club movement had faded years before the song even came out but somehow it caught on and I felt deep in my soul that this was not a good way to come back. Because of the success you kept working with him. His work on I BET was also questionable. The song while was great to hear you taking jabs at sperm donor alien head, had a weird composition and arrangement. I want Ciara to work with writers that actually will give her authenticity but grit at the same time. She was doing this so well in self titled. Writing yummy with tummy??? I'm still recovering from that til this day. The fast rap singing to cover up the fact the lyrics you are singing don't rhyme has to stop. HIRE NEW WRITERS damn it. 4. HIRE a new creative team of graphic designers, photographers and creatives. As of late, I have noticed a decline in the artwork and music videos. One thing Ciara is known for is her ability to give us a single artwork moment or a music video. That is something I have LIVED for from my fave BUT since going indie I noticed that it's been inconsistent, watered down or just plain lazy. She'll do it maybe for one song or video and the rest you can tell was shot in someone's basement art studio. Girl I know RUSS got money and I know you got money. Build a state of the art studio if you have to. Come up with a cool concept and stick to it. Let it be cohesive. If you use a font style, let it be sleek and modern and use it on all of the artwork for that era. Keep the theme going. Maybe let it tell a story. If you have a color scheme or art style you are using keep it consistent that album cycle as well. This is not a lot to ask for and it can easily be done. 5. Challenge yourself creatively. Take some time to actually create a body of work that will make people feel shook. Create short movie, or documentary to start the era. Get people talking. Create an alter ego and turn it into something mysterious that will make people want to tune in. I remember when Ciara actually took herself seriously creatively. With Goodies, we got that pretty hood girl from the south. The Evolution was a mixture of throwback hip hop fashion; tomboy chic but with a modern touch. Fantasy Ride you gave us a comic book inspired theme with over the top bold colors and sex appeal. It was fun and experimental (the girls back then just weren't ready for that much creativity from a black girl in the south). With Basic Instinct, you stripped it down and put the focus on minimalism and let your natural talent shine. I loved that because it was a much needed artistic statement at that time. With SELF TITLED CIARA you gave us a cohesive body of work. A perfect blend of R&B, hip hop and pop. A good feel of nostalgic but also modern bops. Showing what Ciara as a whole stands for artistically. It was done effortlessly. Jackie is where I started to see the decline. While the photography was beautiful, it didn't really align with the body of work we got. Beauty Mole. I don't even know where to begin. The artwork while great, you're thinking you're maybe getting this super experimental body of music but it's a bunch of leftovers and non cohesiveness. CICI was a step in the right direction. It's giving grown woman Goodies album cover and I loved that. What's coming next I'm scared and I hope that Ciara really took the time to create something powerful. So far, nothing has been giving anything but lazy and tired. 6. STOP PAYING FANTASY RIDE DUST. It is arguably your best produced album to date. I know that time was arguably one of the toughest time for both Ciara stans and yourself because of the blackballing bs you dealt with that you didn't deserve. Love Sex Magic SNL performance (if you haven't watched that), that is an example of how Ciara can be versatile in her dancing. 7. Start dancing like we know you can and stop relying on muscle memory when doing certain moves. You can tell you are not putting the effort we know you can put. Not sure why you have seemed to lost your dancing ability. Maybe it's aging and the pregnancy. But I've seen moments where you give give us a glimpse of the old Cici. Start doing more flexible stuff like you used to in the past. Bring the heels back on stage. Show these hoes you can dance in heels too. 8. Drop the tomboy, Stud look for your shows and music videos. You are a GROWN woman. It was cute during The Evolution and it was cute when you did it once in a while. It just looks corny and tacky now. Girl you are a whole grown sexy woman damn near 40 now. There is no reason why you need to dress like a middle school stud from 2008. Leave the oversize clothes and dress like the sexy grown woman I know you are. 9. Go back to a major record label OR use being INDIE to your full advantage. I don't think the indie thing is working out and many of your fans have lost interest and TRUST because time and time again we have been disappointed with the lackluster lazy album roll outs since you've done independent. PROVE us wrong now. Otherwise after this era, I just don't see it happening for you anymore. 10. I'm tired of typing. lol THE END. 2 1 1
prézli Posted August 2 Posted August 2 8 minutes ago, ciara said: HIRE a new creative team Hire a team of blacks 1
Sad Beautiful Tragic Posted August 2 Posted August 2 Oh please Ciara fans have it good compared to us Normani fans 8 3
Kavish Posted August 2 Posted August 2 Good luck with that "top things I want Ciara to start or stop doing" u speak of
toast Posted August 2 Posted August 2 I loved her eras from Goodies-Jackie. Kind of fell off with the mommy music, but she seems to be doing fine/making the right decisions for her tbh. Not many artists have careers that last this long, so something about her current direction is working
Popular Post ciara Posted August 2 Author Popular Post Posted August 2 16 minutes ago, americanlife said: Do you have a job Girl you have 23,000 posts on here compared to my 2,000. And I've been here longer than you. 4 1 30
LegaMyth Posted August 2 Posted August 2 Evolution-Ciara was MY FAVORITE. I was actually riding harder for her than Bey at that time.
ciara Posted August 2 Author Posted August 2 2 minutes ago, toast said: I loved her eras from Goodies-Jackie. Kind of fell off with the mommy music, but she seems to be doing fine/making the right decisions for her tbh. Not many artists have careers that last this long, so something about her current direction is working Girl bye. This is why you need to READ my post. Yes 29 minutes ago, tost1 said: Won't read that though... We know you can't read anyways. 12
ciara Posted August 2 Author Posted August 2 2 minutes ago, VerdantHue said: The Evolution is her best produced album imo I disagree. Fantasy Ride is the perfect blend of pop r&b and hip hop. fun experimental concept too. Self titled Ciara comes a close second to Goodies. 2
PrettyHurts Posted August 2 Posted August 2 How We Roll was a urban mini hit. Even my mom knew it from the radio
ciara Posted August 2 Author Posted August 2 25 minutes ago, Wonbin said: Oh please Ciara fans have it good compared to us Normani fans We do in many ways but don't in others. Normani's journey with music is a whole lot different than Ciara's. But I do feel the Normani stans
Sad Beautiful Tragic Posted August 2 Posted August 2 Just now, ciara said: But I do feel the Normani stans 1
VerdantHue Posted August 2 Posted August 2 Also, I have an issue with this take: 8. Drop the tomboy, Stud look for your shows and music videos. You are a GROWN woman. It was cute during The Evolution and it was cute when you did it once in a while. It just looks corny and tacky now. Girl you are a whole grown sexy woman damn near 40 now. There is no reason why you need to dress like a middle school stud from 2008. Leave the oversize clothes and dress like the sexy grown woman I know you are. A grown woman can dress however she wants to. In fact, I love this look on Ciara because it's her OG, Atlanta look. 3 1
Burn Posted August 2 Posted August 2 Idk why she wasted those songs on that EP last year. It's been 5 years since Beauty Marks. 1
Shigo Posted August 2 Posted August 2 10 minutes ago, ciara said: Girl you have 23,000 posts on here compared to my 2,000. And I've been here longer than you. ClockedT 2
ciara Posted August 2 Author Posted August 2 3 minutes ago, VerdantHue said: Also, I have an issue with this take: 8. Drop the tomboy, Stud look for your shows and music videos. You are a GROWN woman. It was cute during The Evolution and it was cute when you did it once in a while. It just looks corny and tacky now. Girl you are a whole grown sexy woman damn near 40 now. There is no reason why you need to dress like a middle school stud from 2008. Leave the oversize clothes and dress like the sexy grown woman I know you are. A grown woman can dress however she wants to. In fact, I love this look on Ciara because it's her OG, Atlanta look. I knew this would be a controversial take but this bullet point was truly just my personal take. I think there's also a way to do this without it looking like cosplay. I hate the power ranger looking outfits too. Not just the oversized clothing. There's a way to do it that won't make it feel like childlike too. 1
Pheromosa Posted August 2 Posted August 2 Isn't the fact why she hasn't changed at all..musically, the reason y'all still like her? She's in a rough spot and it's too late. Just let her be at this point
americanlife Posted August 2 Posted August 2 15 minutes ago, ciara said: Girl you have 23,000 posts on here compared to my 2,000. And I've been here longer than you. Most of my posts are from years ago
Mariya Takeuchi Posted August 2 Posted August 2 4 minutes ago, ciara said: I disagree. Fantasy Ride is the perfect blend of pop r&b and hip hop. fun experimental concept too. Self titled Ciara comes a close second to Goodies. the concept got thrown off the ferris wheel when she changed labels so what concept are you talking about? She didn't want to make that album so i get why she pays it dust. Ciara is her best produced album but i agree with everything else.
ciara Posted August 2 Author Posted August 2 3 minutes ago, Pheromosa said: Isn't the fact why she hasn't changed at all..musically, the reason y'all still like her? She's in a rough spot and it's too late. Just let her be at this point Actually it's the complete opposite. I think that is the biggest misconception. I think Ciara lost herself in somebody else's sauce all while trying to cook her own if that makes sense. Her own sauce was great. 1
KING ACE Posted August 2 Posted August 2 (edited) On 8/2/2024 at 1:20 PM, PrettyHurts said: How We Roll was a urban mini hit. Even my mom knew it from the radio I wonder why she doesn't pick up where she left off with HWR? now she is sonically going in a completely different direction.....ugh Edited October 31 by KING ACE 1
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