Ciara Princess Harris was born in Fort Hood, Texas, on 25 October 1985, and attended North Clayton High School before graduating from Riverdale. In her mid-teens she formed the all-girl group Hearsay with two of her friends and recorded some demos, but as time went on they began to have differences and eventually parted ways. She later signed a publishing deal as a songwriter, and her first writing credit was on Blu Cantrell's debut album, 'So Blu', for the song '10,000 Times'. It was when she was writing songs that she met music producer Jazze Pha, whom she called her "music soulmate", and they worked together on writing for her debut album. In early 2004 she recorded a demo with record producer Sean Garrett, which came to the attention of Lil Jon and became her debut single 'Goodies', followed by her debut album of the same name in September 2004. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200, staying there for 71 weeks, and was certified triple platinum by the RIAA in 2006. '1, 2 Step' featuring Missy Elliott was released as the album's second single, reaching the top 10 in many countries, and topping the charts in Canada, and this was followed by 'Oh' featuring Ludacris, as the third single in March 2005. She was an opening act for Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Lovers Tour 2005 and went on tour with Chris Brown and Bow Wow on the Holiday Jam Tour in December 2005, and at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards she received four nominations, including Best New Artist, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for '1, 2 Step', and Best Rap Song for Missy Elliott's single 'Lose Control'.
In December 2006 Ciara released her second studio album, 'Ciara: The Evolution', becoming her first and only number one album on the U.S. Billboard 200, going on to be certified platinum. Four top ten singles were released from the album, with 'Get Up' also being used in the 2006 film 'Step Up'. In addition to her music, Ciara made her acting debut in the MTV Films production 'All You've Got' in May 2006, playing Becca Whiley, a teenager who is competing in a volleyball tournament. In October 2008 she was honoured as Billboard's "Woman of the Year", because of her success as a recording artist and leadership in embracing the changing the music business. Her third album was originally scheduled for a September 2008 release, but 'Fantasy Ride' was eventually released after several delays in May 2009, combining her R&B and hip hop sound from her previous albums along with a new pop and dance sound. 'Go Girl' was the lead single released from the album, but after it achieved minimal success it was later deemed a promo single, and 'Never Ever' became the official lead single, while 'Love Sex Magic', featuring Justin Timberlake, became a worldwide hit, peaking within the top 10 in 20 countries. During the 'Fantasy Ride' sessions, over thirty songs were considered for the album, as when the concept was originally conceived in 2008 it was considered for a three-disc collection idea, to be led by the T-Pain-produced gem 'Go Girl' as the lead single, but her label decided against the 3-CD idea, as well as further complicating matters by shelving a teaser mixtape/sampler that was intended to hype up anticipation for the album. In the end thirteen tracks were chosen for the final running order of 'Fantasy Ride', but that involved ditching over twenty songs, including the title track and the proposed 'Go Girl' single. Rather than leave them in the vaults, here is a companion album to the original 'Fantasy Ride', and as that title is now taken I've renamed it after that proposed lead single.
Track listing
01 Fantasy Ride (feat. Claude Kelly)
02 Click, Flash
03 Blauw (feat. Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins)
04 Up & Down
05 Switch
06 Fit Of Love
07 Tick-Tock (Mr. Mechanic)
08 Go Girl (feat. T-Pain)
09 Cool On You
10 Secret
11 Swim
12 Echo
13 One More Dance
