Despite keeping more control of the album's contents, Basic Instinct still suffered several pushbacks due the leaking of songs from the album's recording sessions, much like its predecessor. Three singles preceded the album's release including the Ludacris-assisted lead single "Ride", which peaked within the top five on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number three and the Billboard Hot 100 at number forty-two. The other singles, "Speechless" and "Gimmie Dat" failed to impact more than "Ride", and all the singles failed to impact significantly on international single charts. Basic Instinct was well received by critics, on average scoring seventy-two out of 100 according to Metacritic. Most critics praised the eleven-track set for its strong productions and cohesive themes, which drew comparisons to the early career of Janet Jackson. However, there were criticism towards the dated and unoriginal sound of the album as well Ciara's soft vocals being overshadowed by the album's production.
Basic Instinct debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 at number forty-four with 37,000 copies sold, becoming the lowest selling debuting album of Ciara's career so far and continuing a downward trend in her commercial success. In international territories the album was also unsuccessful, most notably reaching top-thirty on the Australian Urban Chart and the UK R&B Chart. On February 14, 2011, just two months after the album's release, Ciara published a statement detailing the issues she experienced with Basic Instinct. She detailed how she alone paid for the music video for the album's third single and how the label refused to promote the singles on U.S. radio stations. Ciara openly criticsed her label for the lack of support with Basic Instinct, as well as her previous albums, and asked to be released from her contract with LaFace Records (Jive), as a result.
