ciara

[2] Missy Elliott featuring Ciara and Fatman Scoop, ‘Lose Control’

Ciara returns the favour. Until yesterday, this was going to be Number One. It’s dropped because the other record still gets better with every play, months after I first heard it, while this has maybe lost a tiny bit of its sheen. Also – as Junior’s mum has pointed out – ‘Lose Control’ is enhanced by its video, and I shouldn’t be swayed by that kind of thing. It’s a fantastic video, unsettling, scary and inspired.

Whatever, it’s still a great record. We can forgive Fatman Scoop for his past sins, and we can marvel again at Ciara’s honeyed tones. All that plus Missy telling us she’s got a “cute face, chubby waist”. Bit like Junior, but we don’t say that too loudly when she’s around. I’ve heard people get itchy about the track being based on Cybotron’s imperious ‘Clear’, but Missy uses it to whip up even more excitement, not as a crutch. 

Junior listens from the launchpad of her breakdancing mat, kicking legs and flapping arms. She’d fling herself backwards onto the wall Ciara-style if she could. I cover her ears whenever there are rude words. No one wants their child’s first word to be, er, “mummajumma”.

Just one to go then. Can you guess what it is yet?

[7] Ciara featuring Petey Pablo, ‘Goodies’

Obviously a 20Sixer, Ciara’s “goodies” are actually sweeties. She’s pretty mean with them, they “stay in the jar”. Petey Pablo tries to bring the tone of the song down with a somewhat lewd rap, but he’s not going to get any sweeties while bragging about having a “sick reputation for handlin’ broads”. They’re “not just for any of the many men that’s tryna get on top”. So there.

Junior glosses over the lyrics. She’s too busy wriggling around to the music, which sounds like Cypress Hill in Star Trek. It seems to have a static energy, causing the hair around her crown to stand straight up. Could be an early parody of her dad. Her dad who’s trying to sing like Ciara again, so let’s hope she doesn’t remember this.

Number seven’s an odd position on the chart, isn’t it? It doesn’t come with the fanfare of the beginning of the Top 10, and it’s not quite on the cusp of the big five. The big-hitters start tomorrow. Will there be even more Ciara? Junior wouldn’t mind. Dunno about the rest of you.

[11] The Futureheads, ‘Hounds Of Love’

There’s been room for a lot of Kate Bush in Ciara’s year. The album’s probably top of the pile, and a cute cover of her ‘Hounds Of Love’ is kicking at the door of the top ten singles. The “oh ah oh”s are talking Junior’s language too, and the legs are whirling again. She either had a particularly good night’s sleep or guitar bands are turning out to be her bag. If it’s the latter, the next 10 will be rich with disappointment. Apart from No.10. Ooh, the anticipation.

[17] Ciara featuring Missy Elliott, ‘1, 2 Step’

This is Ciara’s year, we just live in it. Junior is puzzled to see her dad try to sing along with what the nice lady is saying, but you can see she wants to get up and dance. The song has a minimalism to it that wouldn’t take much effort to move with. She could do those press-ups that she practises on her mat before rolling over and doing that slightly astonished face before she sees that her mum is smiling. Missy Elliott could try that in the next video. I’m not entirely sure she hasn’t already.