Ciara - Basic Instinct 2010

 

Basic Instinct is the fourth studio album by American singer Ciara. It was released on December 10, 2010, by LaFace Records and Jive Records. Executive-produced by A&R agent Mark Pitts, Ciara, Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, Basic Instinct returns Ciara to her urban roots with mid-tempo R&B cuts and bass-heavy pop and dance songs. Aside from production by Stewart and The-Dream, Ciara collaborated with production by Soundz, Infinity and T-Minus. Frequent collaborator and friend Ludacris makes a guest vocal appearance, as does labelmate and fellow Atlanta-native, Usher. After her previous album, Fantasy Ride, suffered numerous leaks and pushbacks, information about Basic Instinct was kept confidential until the first single was released and album was complete.

Despite keeping more control of the album's content, Basic Instinct still suffered several pushbacks due to the leaking of songs from the album's recording sessions, much like its predecessor. Three singles preceded the album's release including the Ludacris-assisted lead single "Ride", which peaked within the top five on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number three and at number forty-two on the Billboard Hot 100. The other singles, "Speechless" and "Gimmie Dat", failed to have success like "Ride", and all the singles failed to impact significantly on international single charts. Basic Instinct was well received by critics, on average scoring seventy-two out of 100 according to Metacritic. Most critics praised the eleven-track set for its strong productions and cohesive themes, which drew comparisons to the early career of Janet Jackson. However, there were criticism towards the dated and unoriginal sound of the album as well Ciara's soft vocals being overshadowed by the album's production.

Basic Instinct debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number forty-four with 37,000 copies sold, becoming the lowest selling debuting album of Ciara's career up to that point and continuing a downward trend in her commercial success. In international territories, the album was also unsuccessful, most notably reaching top-thirty on the Australian Urban Chart and the UK R&B Chart. On February 14, 2011, just two months after the album's release, Ciara published a statement detailing the issues she experienced with Basic Instinct. She detailed how she alone paid over $100,000 for the "Gimmie Dat" music video and how the label refused to promote the singles on US radio stations. Ciara openly criticized her label for the lack of support with Basic Instinct, as well as her previous album, Fantasy Ride, and asked to be released from her contract with LaFace Records (Jive), as a result. Later in May 2022, the album was awarded a Silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry.