FantasyRide

Tbh this is a really good body of work. The only letdown to me was the EP tracks being out for so long ruining the surprise element, but the whole thing totally works as an album. Dont get me wrong there is a skip or 2 (or 3), but considering it's an album of 19 songs it's expected.

Love this sound for her. The video may just be one of my faves by her ever. So much replay value imo.

The show was amazing, I keep watching the videos I took and reminiscing. I want to go again was such a fun night.

Does anyone know what time she went on stage at tonight's show? I'm attending tomorrow with some friends who want to get food before so just want to make sure we don't miss her at all.

Tbf she's only really had a couple (commercial) flops in the past 2 decades and most of those movies don't seem like they would have been big crowd pleasers regardless of who was starring in them. — Kiss of the Spider Woman was always going to be a tough sell no matter who was cast in it. The word of mouth online seems positive though, I think had they started on less screens they would have been able to market it more strategically.

It's an homage, she did the same on Karma Sutra w/ Juicy J by referencing Trina's featured verse on Nann. Trina's impact on today's female rappers is quite understated compared to some of her peers. You can see her influence in a lot of the "newer" female rappers.

I feel like she might have something with Dance With Me and Low. They just need something to give them a moment. It's a shame there isn't a radio or playlist push. Not sure how relevant Urban AC radio is anymore, but LMOL feels like it would have ate on there. It really is a solid album. Genuinely feels like an album and less like a playlist which is what I was worried about at first.

To be fair she's used those interviews to talk about Ten to One Rum, the OAM skincare and the Why Not You? foundation as well as the new movie she's produced. She probably sees it as a good opportunity to promote multiple businesses at the same time.

As controversial as the album has been to the fans, I do think it's done its job with her more casual listeners. I haven't seen one of her projects have such a positive word of mouth since self-titled. Sales and chart placements will obviously be low, but when it's all said and done the album units from How We Roll (and hopefully Dance With Me and Low eventually) will make the numbers look better overall and that's a win in itself. I wonder how many units until the albums post-Evo go gold. It would be kind of legendary if the certifications get updated this era.

I think so too. It explains why it seems to be getting so much love (or at least like) from casual listeners in comparison to her fans. The EP only had 1 skip anyway and even that was a bit of a bop so it's not surprising people who didn't listen to the EP are enjoying the album. Even though Run It Up and Wassup are skips too they work better within the overall album than they did as "singles".

She's filming a music video for Sk8 w/ JID & EARTHGANG. Weird tracklist aside she's kinda been locked in this era. Promo appearances, the meet & greets, signed versions, remixes, releasing a deluxe version. She clearly believes in the project at least. She's even gotten herself featured on a track that is making some noise.

Surely Nice n Sweet missing isn't intentional? I feel like she spoke about that one in interviews right? I wonder what's going on.

I hope I don't jinx it, but is it just me or is the online sentiment for the album pretty positive overall? I haven't seen so much positivity around her music on X in a very long time, especially for a full body of work. I know that most people didn't listen to the EP, but maybe throwing the tracks on was a good idea

Winning, Run It Up and Wassup remain the only skips to me. Better Thangs could have replaced all 3 of them. I want the deluxe songs to see how I feel about this as an overall album. I think it's lowkey better than Beauty Marks in terms of songs I'll revisit, but the production on BM felt more full.

I'm genuinely not hearing what everyone else is. I don't get why people are having such a negative reaction to it.

I know it was pre-streaming, but I'm surprised they didn't try to do more with the song when it was popping off on YouTube all those years ago. Definitely feels like a missed opportunity to grab some streaming coins not having it on streaming.

Pretty Little Psycho would probably have a billion streams by now if it had been on Spotify with a sped up version . The Nightcore community used to eat it up. She definitely had some bops. It's a shame so much of it isn't on Spotify.

Sk8 w/ JID & EARTHGANG kinda came at the perfect time, she definitely needed that bop. It's also currently her 3rd most popular song on Spotify. It's also made me realise that the uptempo sound she's been chasing recently only really works when she's playing a supporting role or being supported by a rapper. Good 4 U, Sk8, This Right Here just wouldn't be as good as solo songs. Which makes me think Better Thangs and BRB would have been better with a rapper instead.

To be fair, she survived the 2nd era curse which is not easy to do for UK pop acts. Especially since she had more obstacles in her way than most do (at least that is public knowledge). I think Covid halted her momentum and Bang EP aside her music has felt a little undercooked (although I've still been bopping).

143 aside, is it just me or are the total streams for quite a lot of those album tracks pretty impressive considering 3 of those albums are pre-streaming era? Especially Prism.

I kinda think not charting would be better than a bad chart placement. That way those chart accounts on twitter won't tweet about it (unless they're haters and are desperate for a viral tweet) and people won't revert to their 2011 twitter ways with her.

Melanin - Da Girls was a weird period. I know it was mostly the Covid years, but looking back it's hard to understand what they were aiming for with some of those releases. She's done some interesting (although nothing incredible) stuff since like her Jackson Wang, XG, Key N Krate and Flex UK collabs and some of the CiCi EP, but in between shes releasing stuff like Wassup and Run It Up which would be fine if they were standalones, but they're now taking space on the album along with the EP tracks. To me she still seems passionate about music, she's just not getting the best out of her collaborators and she isn't hungry enough to source more underground producers/writers.

Tbh I honestly didn't realise people didn't enjoy the EP. The only skip for me was Winning. The songs were mid but they weren't bad. They just weren't Ciara at her best. At the end of the day she's in a similar situation as Katy Perry where people are chasing a feeling (the nostalgia of their youth when these 2 were at their peak) rather than a sound. People want her to catch lightening in a bottle and she is not going to be able to do that, so she needs to move on and experiment sonically. She'd probably get the same reaction if the album was filled with sexy slow jams ala Body Party, Promise and Ride.

I think there is an art in making music personal to that artist, but also relatable to several audiences.

Idk this is kinda giving something fun for the summertime im really enjoying it tbh. It's a bit mid, but it's certainly no Da Gurls.