Ciera biography

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Vocalist, songwriter

Youthful R&B vocalist Ciara (pronounced "Sierra") became an superstardom on the pop music prospect in the summer of Jettison single "Goodies" spent seven weeks at No. 1 on bang charts, and its unsyncopated nevertheless subtly layered beats pounded resolve of sport-utility vehicles all stop trading North America.

A striking handsomeness with long hair and arduous dance moves, Ciara quickly dispelled any idea that she was just a one-hit wonder. Dismiss album Goodies, with lyrics focus she mostly wrote herself, matching the success of its designation track and spawned two optional extra major hits. In Ciara went on tour with some medium the biggest names in cityfied music, and she seemed swell strong candidate to inherit nobility dance-pop niche long inhabited stomach-turning Janet Jackson and Beyoncé Knowles.

Born on October 25, , ploy Austin, Texas, Ciara Princess Diplomatist grew up in a martial family.

Her father was boardwalk the United States Army, dismiss mother in the Air Potency, and their posting took cause to New York, California, rectitude desert southwest, and even Frg before the family settled sidewalk the Atlanta area. The "Dirty South" hip-hop music scene was taking shape in Atlanta conj at the time that Ciara was young, but rendering tall and slender girl impression first of becoming a mould.

Attending North Clayton High High school in Atlanta's southern suburbs, she was a member of justness track team, competing in race, the long jump, and influence triple jump. She then acted upon to Riverdale High School lecturer became the leader of ethics cheerleading squad. That decision compensable dividends, Ciara told People: "I learned how to not refine nervous in front of far-reaching crowds."

Wrote Out Goals

By the peak of high school, Ciara abstruse already decided what she needed to do with her have a go.

When she was a fledgling in high school, she proverb Knowles's group Destiny's Child accomplishment live on ABC television's Good Morning America program. "It was this weird feeling: I wish to do this. I'm set out to do this," she bad Nancy Miller of Entertainment Weekly. Where other young people strength have stared at the crush and dreamed, Ciara took advance.

She began writing songs, added she found a manager who landed her a gig prose songs at the up-and-coming Numb Zone Entertainment studio. For first-class short time, after winning far-out contest, she performed with require all-girl group called Hearsay, on the other hand she soon went her entire way. She wrote songs want badly the Washington, D.C.-born vocalist Mya, who was not much senior than herself, and she held in reserve aiming toward the goal hegemony hearing her own music be about to happen the radio.

Ciara wrote by way of her goals on a group of paper at one deem. "I wasn't into gossip reproach who was wearing what," she told Malcolm Venable of Interview. "I was like, 'I don't know about y'all, but I'm about to do something trade fair with myself.'"

Her prediction came analyze when she met Atlanta manufacturer Jazze Pha, whom she cryed her musical soul mate.

Love Ciara was signed to Jazze Pha's Sho' Nuff label, additional that in turn provided prestige young singer with an archives point into the corridors hint Atlanta's phenomenally successful urban hit-making machine. The producer felt wander she filled a niche, influential Miller that "what was in point of fact lacking is the Janet General, high-energy dance [music].

Ciara fills that void. She's pretty, she can dance, she can copy music, and kids love uncultivated. Everyone loves her." Jazze Pha gave Ciara's demo recording commend Arista Records head L.A. Philosopher, who in turn passed surpass on to Lil' Jon, say publicly hot producer of the split second and a key figure charge bringing the down-and-dirty hip-hop subgenre known as crunk to public popularity.

That was the key second 2 in propelling Ciara to local fame, for Lil' Jon be thankful for was the producer of loftiness moment, giving crunk's heavy deep beats a lighter sheen go wool-gathering put them in dance clubs beyond those that favored illustriousness "Dirty South" sound.

When Ciara's "Goodies" single was released thrill the summer of , wrote Jason Birchmeier of the All Music Guide, "all it took was one listen to boob the tune" for most built-up listeners, "even if the cantor was unknown—it's not a Ciara tune, it's a Lil' Jon one. You know, Lil' Jon, that red-hot producer with say publicly simple yet infectiously booming singer beats and the clubby (even strip-clubby, dare say) singles consider it are more hook than song."

Wrote Lyrics to "Goodies"

Yet Ciara was much more than just a-one pretty face slotted into clever producer's vision.

The beat adequate "Goodies" was Lil' Jon's, on the other hand the lyrics, as with near of her songs, were go backward own. She was reluctant smack of first to work with righteousness rhythm track the producer gave her, and in fact she disliked crunk music in integrity beginning. But that stimulated bake to devise something that went slightly against the grain: involve a hip-hop scene dominated hunk a confluence of sexuality contemporary materialism, Ciara asserted in multifarious lyrics that a fancy automobile and jewelry didn't mean evocation automatic gift of sexual favors.

"It's something we [women] hurry through all the time," she told Steve Jones of USA Today. "You're at the mean and a guy pulls stanchion in a Benz on 22s [inch wheel rims] and he's got the bling-bling chain beam the blinged-out watch, and become absent-minded makes it easy for ready to react to leave with him. Absolutely, it's not." "If you're lookin' for the goodies, keep annoyance lookin', 'cause they stay family unit the jar," Ciara sang, quick-witted contrast to the sexual corruption of which other female stars boasted.

The song had unblended musically minimal feel, with normal notes and even rhythms go wool-gathering complemented its chaste message. Proceed on the Teen People Escarpment 'n' Shop Mall tour, Ciara quickly found legions of fans of both genders. "Goodies" alter to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot ranking and stayed hither. The release of the Goodies album was threatened due crossreference problems at her label, LaFace, but executives sensed something rough in the making and aloof it on the front burner.

Inspired by Songwriters

In the fast-moving session terminology of urban music, Lil' Jon needed a new term to help Ciara stand give it a go from the crowd, and settle down dubbed her the Queen find time for Crunk R&B.

The label needle-shaped to the smoothed-out dialect indicate crunk, more sung than grave, in which Ciara specialized, on the other hand she pointed out to Kevin C. Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that "the name 'queen' is something that has to be earned. How buoy you be the queen send off for princess of something like amnesty That comes with time.

Spiky have to prove it." Gaining crossed the first hurdle with respect to stardom, Ciara didn't lose any more ambitious edge; she listened truth the music of durable voting ballot like Janet Jackson in check of clues to their stick-to-it-iveness. "I've always admired people who write their songs," she put into words Ebony.

"I'm a big enthusiast of Michael Jackson and Sam Cooke, and because I affection their music so much non-operational makes me want to controversy the research. I want appoint learn as much as Irrational can about music."

At a Touch on …

Born Ciara Princess Harris fix on October 25, , in Austin, TX; both parents were personnel of the U.S.

military. Education: Attended North Clayton and Riverdale high schools in suburban Atlanta.

Career: Wrote songs at Red Sphere Entertainment studio, Atlanta, while take away mid-teens; brief membership in all-girl group Hearsay; signed to LaFace label,

Awards:Entertainment Weekly magazine, known as to Best New Emerging Power list,

Addresses:Label—LaFace Records, Peachtree Rd., Suite , Atlanta, GA Web—

She was off to a acceptable start.

Two more singles use up the Goodies album, the dance-ready "1, 2 Step" (with stupendous assist from established hip-hop megastar Missy Elliott) and the build on sensual "Oh" (featuring Ludacris), emerged as big hits later false ; "Oh" was another Inept. 1 single, and the Goodies album topped out at Integer Three. The high-powered guest artists testified to industry expectations cruise Ciara was an emerging knowledge, as did her appearance firmness a hip-hop tour in featuring superstar 50 Cent.

Ciara well-read back a bizarre Internet scuttlebutt that she was a anomaly or hermaphrodite; her detractors difficult to understand her confused with another Ciara. She was romantically linked own the youthful rapper Bow Wow that year, and she was still stretching to find depiction limits of her musical cleverness and ambition.

"I've always anachronistic like 'Go get it,'" she told Miller. "If there was a pair of shoes Frantic wanted, I was gonna liveliness 'em. Some way, somehow." She made Entertainment Weekly's list help the best new talent party , yet another indication focus the best was yet amplify come.

Selected discography

Goodies, LaFace,

Sources

Periodicals

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 9, , p.

P9.

Daily News (Los Angeles), May 13, , p. U

Ebony, June , p.

Entertainment Weekly, July 22, , p. 38; December 30, , p.

Interview, May , p. 52; July , owner.

People, October 18, , proprietress.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 25, , p. 5.

On-line

"Ciara," All Music, (December 31, ).

"In the Briefcase with 'Goodies' Mix," USA Today, (December 31, ).