I Bet, Ciara

Grammy award winning singer Ciara returns to the music scene following the birth of her first child and disastrous split from the child’s father, rapper Future. Her newest musical effort is entitled I Bet. This loathsome single, which is set to be the lead single from her upcoming album Jackie, discusses the nasty breakup between Ciara and Future providing counts of infidelity and lack of appreciation. Many have praised Ciara for her display of growth in vocal range on the song and dubbed the single as a “diss” record targeting her ex-fiance. The single debuted at #96 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, #50 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, and #27 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart.

I Bet is one of few of the singer’s personal records throughout the course of her decade plus career. Hopefully, Ciara will make up for lost time and continue her musical transparency allowing her fans to continue to get to know her. Even though I commend Ciara for her transparency and courage to finally speak up about her highly publicized breakup, I feel that such a spiteful song should possess more emotion and passion in its vocal delivery. Ciara’s soft and sometimes frail sounding voice tends to fail at conveying emotion and conviction to her audience. The frailty of her voice, however, does provide a sense of vulnerability. The song’s lyrical content, packed with sharp and witty lines that can insult the target, is decent despite the man imitating her ex-finance, Future’s, voice throughout the verses in the background. He was unnecessary to the song all together and only proved to be an annoying distraction. He was nearly laughable which is a horrible contrast to the emotion of the song. Overall, I Bet is a quality effort for Ciara and properly lays the foundation for her upcoming album which is dedicated to her mother.