What’s up, Culturalists! I’m QB and today on Culturalist Theory we’re ranking singer-songwriter Ciara’s 7-album discography from worst to first. This military-brat is a southside Atlanta representer who has sold more that 45 million records worldwide. She has sung and danced her way into the hearts of fans worldwide. Without further ado, remember to leave your comments below, share this post, and subscribe for more.
Jackie (2015)
Drama usually makes for good art right? In this case not so much. Following her breakup with Future, Ciara refocused on mothering Little Future, and named this album after her own mother. Ciara often kicks off her projects with an affirmative sort of self-empowerment message, and “Jackie (BMF)” is the most aggressive declaration to date; though as you get into it, the track is like three songs in one. Which is overall one of the issues with the project, it’s a little erratic. The perpetual Georgia Peach gives a nod to her hometown with “All Good” which is serviceable, “That’s How I’m Feelin’” featuring Pitbull and Missy and “Lullaby” are uptempo sleepers, but “Stuck on You” and “Give Me Love” are among the skips. We can’t blame too many cooks either as “Jackie” isn’t even the Ciara album with the most producers; Dr. Luke and production partner Cirkut split the project with Polow Da Don and Harmony “H-Money” Samuels, who have about four songs a piece of this 11-track project. Even with a slimmed down tracklist, Ciara managed to fit in the most direct reference to her former relationship with lead single, “I Bet”, which only made it little more than halfway up the Billboard 100. The follow-up “Dance Like We’re Making Love” didn’t fare much better, charting for a single week and coincidently in the last spot.
Fantasy Ride (2009)
This record is quite the rollercoaster as Ciara infuses pop and dance sounds with the Crunk&B of her prior efforts. Serving as executive producer with LaFace A&R Mark Pitts, Ciara put this project together with upwards of 20 producers including Blac Elvis, Benny Blanco, & Tricky Stewart. She also welcomes performances from a couple of the biggest pop stars of 2009, Chris Brown on “Turntables” and “Love Sex Magic” featuring Justin Timberlake; the latter earning her and JT a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collab with Vocals, and Ciara’s biggest international hit to that point. Young Jeezy appears on the Gamble & Huff-sampling US lead single “Never Ever”. “Keep Dancin’ On Me” is a nice b-side and “High Price” is a hidden gem with a healthy dose of Luda-bars, and the Dream behind the scenes doing what he does best – giving the ladies a track to talk shit to. You can skip the actual duet with Dream “Lover’s Thing” though, as well as “Pucker Up” and “I Don’t Remember” which closes out the standard version. The deluxe version distinguishes itself with 2 more skips, some behind the scenes videos, and a red clad Super C instead of the Purple look on the original. Though charting respectably, Fantasy Ride did not near the heights we’d seen her reach before conceptually, sonically, or commercially.
Basic Instinct (2010)
To close out 2010, Ciara released Basic Instinct in December that year. Her deepest decline yet saw her only sell 37,000 records in the first week, her lowest debut to that time. Ciara blamed pushbacks, leaks, and LaFace for their lack of support and promotion. A problem she says also plagued Fantasy Ride. Though her singles failed to connect with audiences, except lead single Ride with the customary Ludacris feature and the too-hot-for-BET video. Ciara once again was EP, along with familiar faces Mark Pitts, Tricky Stewart and the Dream. She had a slimmed down cache of producers including Tricky & Dream credits on 9 of the 11 songs, another lean tracklist. Ci starts the record off spitting in an aggressive tone, showing her cocky side. Now, these aren’t bars-bars but cool for a pop-R&B chick. There of course are dance tracks like “Heavy Rotation”, the single “Gimmie Dat” for which Ciara paid $100,000 from her own pocket to get a music video made, and “Link Up” featuring Usher coming through with the A-town connection. “You Can Get It”, reggae-tinged “Wants for Dinner”, and “I Run It” are probably the best of the b-sides as the album’s high energy is balanced with these slower tempos giving the listener time to catch their breath. The album really isn’t that bad, just middling.
Ciara (2013)
After two lackluster albums in performance and promotion, the aforementioned Fantasy Ride and Basic Instinct, Ciara had made no bones about her displeasure with and desire for release from Jive Records. Subsequently, she reunited with mentor and benefactor LA Reid at Epic to release this resurgent and defiant self-titled record. With a dozen producers credited on this number 2 debut, Ciara bounces between dance, urban and her version of balladry. But this too was not without its trials and errors. Under its original title, “One Woman Army”, Ciara and camp released three singles that failed to make any noise with audiences. Do you remember “Sweat” featuring 2 Chainz, “Sorry”, or “Got Me Good”? Didn’t think so. But we’re not going to hold the false start against her. Ultimately, “Body Party” became the lead single for this project and it reached the top of the Hip-Hop/R&B Chart. Giving Ciara’s profile a much needed boost. Second single and album opener “I’m Out” features Nicki Minaj, in one of her two appearances on the record. It did well with strong lyrics and production, a playful and sexy video, and an A-list feature; Nicki’s second showing is on the high-energy album cut “Livin It Up”. The only other feature is from Future on an odd duet called “Where You Go” initially meant for the Future Hendrix album. Skip it. Deep cuts that work here are “Sophomore”, “Super Turnt Up” and “DUI”. We like this album for Ciara’s resilience, and even though they scrapped the title, she proved to be a One Woman Army.
Beauty Marks (2019)
In 2019, Ciara proved that she was a BMF twice over. This time standing for “Beauty Marks Founder.” Any bumps or bruises she accumulated in her personal and professional life had become sacred symbols and songs which she released on her new independent label Beauty Marks Entertainment. This one feels good and is upbeat without the rough edges. She once again opens the album on an empowerment tip, but more subdued compared to earlier intros. Not to mention it’s featuring Macklemore. “Girl Gang” with Kelly Rowland is a light-hearted bop with C & K trading bars about squad goals and good times. “Level Up” is the premiere track on this record turning a controversial tweet into a choreo challenge performed and posted by amateurs and professionals alike. Drop the link in the comments if you tried it. We’re all friends here…Afro-beat-inspired “Freak Me” featuring Nigerian-born Tekno is a winding and timely second single. Ciara expresses a sweeter side on “Thinking Bout You”, “ Trust Myself”, and “Greatest Love” dedicated to her husband Russell Wilson. The title track closes the album on a note of self-love and the journey of receiving love from another that comes from self-acceptance.
Goodies (2004)
Did you know that prior to becoming a recording artist, Ciara penned songs for artists like Mya, Fantasia, and Blu Cantrell? Songwriting may be one of the most underrated aspects of her career as she has writing credits on 11 of the 13 tracks here, and has been an integral part of her repertoire and longevity in the industry. A story for another day. It was Jazze Pha who is credited with discovering Ciara and putting her on as a singer. Out the gate they worked with the hottest producer and DJ at the time, pioneer of crunk music Lil Jon, to produce the female follow-up to Usher’s “Yeah” and Petey Pablo’s “Freek-a-Leek”. A record-setting sweet little tease of a song called “Goodies” featuring Mr. North Carolina Petey Pablo. Goodies reached the top of the Hot 100 where it reigned for seven weeks, becoming the longest-running number-one debut single by a female artist on the chart since 1977. Her second single “1, 2 Step” featuring Missy Elliott had another seven week reign but this time in the number two spot. “Oh” came next and was an effective love letter to her town featuring fellow ATLien Ludacris. “And I” closes out the album’s promotional singles on a bit of a low note, only peaking at 96. But that song can still get you in your feels to this day. And Carmelo Anthony was in the video doing Carmelo Anthony things. Goodies is a cohesive effort conceptually and sonically that is simultaneously age appropriate and pushes the envelope. She received two Grammy nominations that year including Best New Artist. Early comparison to the late Aaliyah quickly dissipated as Ciara created her own lane and has left an indelible mark on the game – a beauty mark.
Ciara: The Evolution (2006)
After being crowned the “Princess of Crunk&B” with Goodies, Ciara and team were tasked with the follow up. And they smashed it with Ciara:The Evolution giving her her first and only number-one album in the US and going platinum within about 5 weeks of its release. Some may have thought it was too soon to call a sophomore album an evolution, but Ciara was indeed coming of age and branching out from the sounds that set her apart in the first place. She was much more in the driver seat; this time stepping into the EP role along with co-writing and co-producing many of the songs on the record. At 18 tracks, this is the longest list of Ciara’s albums, including 4 interludes where she explains different facets of her growth segueing into the next section of songs. Starting with her roots in crunk then her evolution in music, dance, fashion, and herself as C. With that we get a mix of high energy club joints, sensuality, self-empowerment, and relationships going good and bad exemplified by the singles “Get Up” which is also on the soundtrack for Step Up and features rapper turned tech mogul Chamillionaire, “Promise”, “Like a Boy”, and “Can’t Leave em Alone” feature 50 Cent. Throughout Ciara lets you into her state of mind and establishes her own brand of empowerment that has been a throughline in her music.
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