Ciara's Triumphant Comeback..Sort Of

With 'Fantasy Ride' failing to perform as well as expected and after the catastrophic flop that is 'Basic Instinct' (which I kind of enjoyed), many considered this era to be Ciaras last chance at being a successful artist. Even with a successful single, 'Ride', the album sold a frankly embarrassing 37,000 copies first week, and has sold an even more embarrassing 116,000 copies in total to date. Many attributed this to Ciaras lack of promotion but mainly due to her record label who refused to support her, which evidently lead Ciara begging to be released. Shortly after, the 'Goodies' singer found a new home at Epic Records to release her new record.

Releasing a slew of songs that failed to make an impact ('Sweat' feat. 2 Chainz, 'Sorry' and 'Got Me Good') and an abundant lack of a promotion, many, including myself, were worried that Ciara was finally done. Then 'Body Party' came and switched things around. Making a top 40 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 25, and a promotional campaign finally in full swing, which includes performances and interviews at the likes of BET 106 & Park, Jimmy Kimmel and GMA. It looks as if the star may just be able to make a strong comeback..perhaps. With sales projections now in, the self-titled effort is on course to shift 55,000 - 65,000 copies in its first week. This would mean this album could almost double her last albums first week sales. This is obviously a huge improvement, but still not the kind of numbers the star should be pulling off but one would have to consider the state of RnB music sales in music right now. In terms of RnB, females in that sector have seemed to struggle to shift records over the last few years. With notable RnB leading ladies such as Mary J Blige, Fantasia, Brandy, Keyshia Cole, Alicia Keys and even Beyonce encountering record low first week and total sales, some of which have experienced their lowest first week sales of their entire career. With that in mind, and in comparison, maybe CiCis not done too bad after all. So in the wide span of things, is Ciara back and back with a bang? Perhaps not, but is she leaving her foot prints on the RnB sand? Most certainly. Whether or not Ciara has made a good comeback is more than debatable but if comparing to her fellow ladies, she's definitely not doing too bad, but not too great either. With mediocre sales, will Ciara have the chance to release another album or is she just done?