Ariana Grande- Baby I Review+Download

On July 22nd Ariana Grande released the follow up to her highly successful single The Way. Does this single have the potential to garner the success The Way did? Find out here.

Baby I has a similar feel to The Way as it is a throwback R&B Pop song featuring her powerful vocals over a soulful R&B instrumental track. However, while Baby I has its fair share of similarities to The Way, at the same time it has enough differences to differentiates itself as its own song, as well as differentiating itself from the majority of the pop landscape heard on the radio today.

In this song Ariana again shows off her incredible range, from calmly singing a verse to belting out runs that would make dogs bark, again confirming the opinion that Ariana could be the new Mariah Carey.

Overall, this is a wonderfully composed song that's similar to The Way, but's different enough to offer a whole new experience from The Way, and is a great followup to the first single, and will garner even more hype for her debut album, Yours Truly.

                                    

Ciara- Ciara Review+Download

On Tuesday, the 9th, Ciara released her self titled 5th album Ciara. Followed up from her less than successful 2010 effort Basic Instinct, Ciara has a lot to prove in her new 11 track album. Does she have what it takes to regain the airplay that her hit singles like Goodies and 1,2 Step had? Find out in the review below.

Ciara starts out strong with club banger I'm Out, which features a verse from Nicki Minaj. Nicki starts the album out strong with a fast paced, hard hitting verse. Ciara doesn't let the energy die there though, delivering swaggerish verses over the bass heavy beat of the summer pop girl anthem.

          

While Ciara starts out strong with I'm Out, from there the album fluctuates all over the place. Featuring beautiful ballads that showcase Ciara's incredible voice like Body Party, and then other songs such as Sophomore, that really don't differentiate themselves except for being just another song on the album. Like most albums Ciara has its ups (Body Party, I'm Out, Overdose) and its downs (Sophomore, Super Turnt Up, Keep on Lookin') unfortunately the downs really outweigh the ups, and throughout most of the album I was just waiting to get to the next song, hoping for something that didn't feel like filler until we get to one of the highs of the album.

However, while most of the album falls into the category of mediocrity, the album does have its high spots. And these high spots really are diverse, and the album has pop, R&B, and and even electric feels throughout its 11 tracks, all of which exceed in their own right.

Overall, this album is a definite hit and miss, with unfortunately, most of it being a miss. However on this album, just like on all of her previous efforts, she is moving closer to finding out what her true sound is, and I would recommend Ciara to any R&B fan.

Are you a fan? Tell me below in the comments, and if you like it, make sure to check it out on iTunes or Amazon MP3 below!

                                    

                                                                                                                                    -Colby