Ciara makes Promises
I’ve been listening to Ciara’s newest single, Promise all week. The beat is bombastic, dramatic, emphatic, and Ciara sounds nothing like the teen pop singer we know from Goodies and 1, 2 Step. She presents a woman discovering the complexity of adult desire and self-determinism.
Is there anything on the radio like this right now? Ciara adlibs in Prince-ly fashion atop sampled male gasps, vocoder snips, and 80’s electrofunk synthlines. The XXL hoodie dance team looks like a thugged out Rhythm Nation. And have you ever seen anything like the hip-shake-shuffle locomotion that closes out the video? Ever?
Ciara even upends the stripper meme when she leans over onto a little wrought-iron chair. Alone on a soundstage, the chair, the jeans, and the heels look like her choices. Rather than acting out the one-dimensional female signifier of stereotyped male heterosexuality, she respresents ownership and control over the fantasy. There are no men in this video. Jump cut to the black hoodies and be reminded that the fantasy we see here is but one expression of a growing, evolving identity.
The verses begin: “Now listen. I’ve been single for awhile now…” and set out the criteria for partnership - “someone I can talk to / is that you? / someone I can call boo / tell me if it’s you”, and step back, “What you gonna do? Make your move…” Ciara is not playing the desperately single woman, nor the gold-digger, the stripper, or the ho. In Promise, she dedicates herself to a man that may not even exist. She presents a demanding fantasy and her frustration is not that of the girl left home on prom night but of the empowered woman who fears that no man may ever meet her challenge.
Aaliyah is smiling down. Where can I see more videos like this?
Update: this video was directed by Diane Martel. Now I have a list of vids to track down.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:40:28 (PST -04:00)
I looove this song by Ciara… I also love her first CD!!! she’s just a great person and my daughter loves her… and her lyrics are clean soo… I love that my daughter loves her!!!
January 3rd, 2007 at 04:47:37 (PST -04:00)
great post kev. i SO agree!!!