Single review: Ciara featuring 2 Chainz - Sweat

After a messy patch of trying to rediscover her sound on Fantasy ride, Ciara went back to basics with Basic instinct. She flopped. Now she's back to BASICS basics again with "Sweat". And let's just say that Ciara had better be prepared to get L.A Rieded. If she has no idea what this is, then she needs to whatsapp Janet and Mariah.

"Sweat" is your typical Ciara song. Hood as hell, semi-sung semi-recited verses and a filthy set of 808s that bang so hard you feel it from your head down to your tootsies. You'll krump to this song in the clubs and and pop it like a tube of Pringles, but you won't remember this song the next day. Ciara embracing the sound she is renowned for is admirable. But in the midst of throwing it back, Ciara forgot to give her song a chorus. She also forgot that she needs a worldwide hit right about now and "Sweat" won't give her that for shit. There is also nothing about "Sweat" which shows any form of evolution or growth from Goodies. What is Ciara trying to achieve? And if she's going somewhere, can somebody show a n***a a road sign!? Because it sounds like she's going nowhere.

Ciara is continually struggling to find a happy medium between what she feels people want from her, what she wants to do herself, and what mainstream radio will spin. She can give off the talk of 'I'm not trying to make hits'. But the bottom line, is that she is. If she wasn't, she wouldn't have completely abandoned her own sound and resorted to sounding like a guest feature on a FutureSex/LoveSounds bonus track for "Love sex magic" to try and salvage a hit for Fantasy ride.

Ciara is drawing herself into her own box with "Sweat" and at this rate she may as well lock herself into it with copies of her singles and have a n***a throw it into a hole the ground. "Sweat" will go the hardest in the clubs and Ciara will get hood credibility and heavy rotation on urban radio, but she won't get a hit. And do not get it twisted folks. A hit is what this one woman army needs. Guns, tanks and Rottweiler coloured weaves won't achieve that and neither will "Sweat". If Ciara doesn't strike a balance with her music, then she'll be lifting cinder blocks and working trucks for a living like those background chicks in her "Work" video.

The beat on "Sweat" goes hard, but the song is boring. The best part of the song being the section near the end which doesn't feature Ciara singing is rather telling. And whilst Cici fans will coin this song as typical Cici, much of the mainstream music adoring public will find this track indistinguishable from any other hood anthem they've heard before. Make no doubt that Ciara will dance the shit out of the song in a music video and look as fly as hell. But the music should be able to stand on its own and "Sweat" barely does.

"Sweat" is not better than "Oh". Not better than "That's right". Not better than "High price". Not better than "Work". And not better than "Gimme that". "Sweat" is not even on a level with "Go girl".

RATING: 2 / 10