Ciara is gearing up for the release of her new EP ‘CiCi’.
via: Vibe
The “Level Up” songstress also opened up about her close relationship to Summer Walker, after appearing on her 2021 album for the interlude “Ciara’s Prayer.“
“I’ve always been a believer that when you do collaborations, you do it because it feels good. So working with Summer was really fun,” Ciara spoke of Walker. “It’s crazy, because she and I are both from Atlanta as well, and she and I bonded because I did something on her project. I did the Prayer for Summer’s project, and then she returned the love for me as well with “Better Thangs.”
Speaking of the latter, Ciara added, “It was a song that both of us really loved, which was really cool. Nothing better than that. So it was super easy and fun, and Summer is really funny. But it was really fun working with her, and we’ve become really good friends over time, which has been awesome.”
Ciara’s 2022 single “Better Thangs” follows her track “Da Girls” — which was also remixed with Lola Brooke and Lady London — “Jump” and most recent collab “How We Roll” with Chris Brown. Ciara’s last album was Beauty Marks in 2019, and now she has released her first EP CiCi.
“I have to give love to my friend Theron, who I executive produced this project with. We actually did ‘Level Up’ together,” she revealed of the project. “We also did my song ‘I Bet’ together [and] my song with Nicki Minaj, ‘I’m Out.’ We had some really cool moments.”
She added, “With this project we really wanted to be intentional, and we really talked about R&B being super important to us. And when you talk about CiCi… when you say, ‘That’s CiCi,’ that is some strong core R&B. And for lack of better terms, I always say my music was ghetto pop. It’s a record I could play in the hood and beyond, to the suburbs of London. I’ve always been very proud of that.”
“We wanted to make sure we had those core elements.”
Ciara then explained the difference between who “Ciara” is and her nickname “CiCi,” which she clarified is “not an alter ego.”
“When I get a little more gritty, and I put that stink in that thing… turn up,” she said of transforming her energy under the “CiCi” moniker. “They’d be like, ‘Go CiCi, go CiCi, go’ and there’s just something about when they start doing that, it’s an attitude and an energy that comes out of me. It’s like me to the 10th power. She’s fearless.”
“I always say, ‘Ciara, she’s more unbothered and she keeps it chill.’ But CiCi, she wants to smoke at times. But I don’t really let CiCi out. I’m just going to say this. My fans know I’m pretty consistent with, let me just stay on the joy train,” she added.
Take a look at Ciara’s interview with Nadeska for R&B Now below.
