Ciara's Desperate 'Ride' {Supplmental Post 5]

So, virtually irrelevant pop star Ciara released a brand new video recently and the results are disastrous. What tried to come across as sexy, only reads desperate. Ciara has had a hard time obtaining a hit record recently, and she has been reduced to making a near pornographic video to drum up publicity that she hopes to translate to a Hot 100 hit and more importantly record sales. I find when artists to this to be completely deplorable, it tells me that it is absolutely not about the art, but just trying to sell a product. The video is provocative without even being good. Many artists have been able to be provocative or controversial yet have the music or talent to back it up. Artists like Michael Jackson have used the art form of the music video to send a message that transcends the music. MJ's videos (two versions exist) for his single "They Don't Care About Us" managed to foreground racism that exists in the world, made viewers think, and the music still had something to it that made them want to go out and buy it while learning the message. This new Ciara video just gives 13 year old males something to YouTube when their parents aren't in the room. The music industry has been reduced to sad displays like scantily clad Ciara who bounces up and down and rides bulls seductively for attention. This saddens me to realize that music will never get out of its creative slump, and if record labels keep allowing artists to put out substandard material then they will never be able to rebound from the current financial slump they are in.