Ciara Princess Harris (born October 25, 1985), known mononymously as Ciara, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, actress, and fashion model.
In 2004, Ciara released her debut studio album Goodies, which spawned three hit singles: "Goodies", "1, 2 Step", and "Oh". The album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and earned her four nominations at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. She released her second studio album, Ciara: The Evolution, in 2006 which spawned the hit singles "Get Up", "Promise", and "Like a Boy". The album reached number one in the US and was certified platinum.
Her third studio album, Fantasy Ride, released in 2009, was considerably less successful than Ciara's first two albums. However, it produced the worldwide top-ten hit "Love Sex Magic" featuring Justin Timberlake, which earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The following year, Ciara released her fourth studio album Basic Instinct, which was met with low sales and continued a downward trend in her commercial success. In 2011, Sony shut down her label Jive Records and transferred her to Epic Records, and released her self-titled fifth studio album, Ciara, in 2013 which was preceded by the US R&B/Hip-Hop top-ten hit "Body Party".
Outside of music, she's also notable as the wife of current Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson. The couple also became minority owners of Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer in August 2019. The two of them have three children and she has an older son from a relationship with rapper Future.
Discography:
- Goodies (2004)
- Ciara: The Evolution (2006)
- Fantasy Ride (2009)
- Basic Instinct (2010)
- Ciara (2013)
- Jackie (2015)
- Beauty Marks (2019)
- Ci Ci (2023)
Ciara's works demonstrate the following tropes:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: "Can't Leave 'Em Alone"
- Auto Erotica: "Backseat Love" is all about having sex in the backseat of a car.
- Badass Boast: "G Is for Girl (A-Z), Girl Gang with Kelly Rowland", "Melanin"
- Break-Up Song:
- "I'm Out"
- "My Love"
- "Never Ever"
- "Sorry"
- Cluster F-Bomb: "Jackie"
- Cover Version: She sang "Paint It Black" for the 2015 film The Last Witch Hunter.
- Dancing Is Serious Business: There's a reason she's been compared to Janet Jackson.
- "Double, Double" Title: "Na Na"
- Freestyle Version: has done a few of these over other people's songs: "deuces" by ChrisBrown, "Pretty Boy Swag" by SouljaBoy, "Lose My Mind" by Jeezy and "Hard In Da Paint" by WakaFlockaFlame.
- Follow Your Heart: "Livin' It Up"
- Hopeless Suitor: The subjects of "Goodies" and "Thirsty".
- In Da Club: "Bang It Up", "Get Up", "Gimmie Dat", "I Proceed", "Oh", "That's Right", "Turn It Up", "Work", "1, 2 Step"
- Intercourse with You: A common theme of her songs — a partial list includes "Body Party", "Got Me Good", "Heavy Rotation", "Keep Dancin' on Me", "Love Sex Magic", "Ride", "Sophomore", "Dance Like We're Making Love", "Freak Me", "Kiss and Tell"... and on and on and on.
- Ms. Fanservice: In most of her music videos, especially "Love Sex Magic", "Work", "Ride", "Body Party" and "Dance Like We're Making Love".
- One-Word Title:
- "Work"
- "Ride"
- "Sophomore"
- Shout-Out: She does one to a J'Adore commercial
featuring Charlize Theron in the "Dance Like We're Making Love" music video. - Silly Love Songs: "And I", "Can't Leave 'Em Alone", "Overdose", "Promise", "Super Turnt Up", "Greatest Love", "Na Na"
- Statuesque Stunner: She's 5'10". Incidentally, that's only an inch shorter than her husband (who's notably short for an NFL quarterback).
- Three Minutes of Writhing: Most of her videography is this.
- The Unfair Sex: "Like a Boy".
- Urban Legend: There was a persistent rumor early in her career that she was actually intersex (or transgender depending on who you asked). That ended once she and rapper Future became involved; they had one child before they broke their engagement in 2014. She has three children with her current husband Russell Wilson.
- A Wild Rapper Appears!: Chamillionaire on "Get Up".
- Jeezy on "Never Ever".
- Nicki Minaj on "Livin' It Up and I'm Out".
- Ciara herself on "Super Turnt Up" and "Melanin".
- Pitbull and Missy Elliott on "That's How I'm Feelin"
- Macklemore on "I Love Myself"
- Tekno on "Freak Me"
- 50 Cent on "Can't Leav 'm Alone"
- Rick Ross on "Boy Outta Here"
- GucciMane on "Feelin On My A".
- TwoChainz on "Sweat"
