“I’m not the queen of Crunk&B, never been that, never wanna be that,” Ciara told Rolling Stone in 2008 as she described the concept of her third album, Fantasy Ride. Ironically, the publication crowned the singer, born Ciara Harris, as the “Princess of Crunk” in October 2004. The intent wasn’t entirely wrong.
Earlier that year, Ciara made her presence felt with her debut single, “Goodies,” featuring rapper Petey Pablo. The crunk&B banger, produced by Lil Jon, quickly solidified her as a promising act. Ciara’s first solo record bolstered to No. 1 on the coveted Billboard Hot 100, where it spent seven consecutive weeks atop the chart.
Despite the success of “Goodies,” Ciara was aware of misconceptions surrounding her as an artist, particularly regarding her vocal capability. “I’m not going to sit here and say I’m a Whitney Houston, but there’s definitely vocal talent here,” Ciara told AOL Sessions in 2004. “I’m aware that my single ‘Goodies,’ everybody and their mother can sing that song; it’s like one note throughout the whole song. But it’s all good, though, it’s all about what feels good to me. It’s all about making good music.” This was just one of multiple instances where Ciara was already letting people know there’s more to her than meets the eye.
Following the blockbuster release of Goodies, Ciara returned in 2006 with her sophomore album, The Evolution. The critically acclaimed album earned Ciara her first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, with a massive 338,000 copies sold in its opening week. (For context, Goodies debuted at No. 3 with 125,000 copies sold.)
Two singles paved the way for The Evolution, including the Jazze Pha-produced “Get Up” featuring Chamillionaire and the Polow Da Don-helmed “Promise.” The latter smooth jam spent two weeks atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while the former reached its peak at No. 7 on the Hot 100.
The Evolution captured Ciara’s growth since her coming-of-age debut album. That growth wasn’t just limited to one particular album, though. In many ways, it was a motto and Ciara’s approach to how she visualized herself as an artist.
Laying The Groundwork
Ciara’s vision for her third album, Fantasy Ride, was even more grandiose. It seemed as though she wanted to take her career to even greater heights while exploring more pockets of her artistry. She didn’t allow the success of The Evolution to force her to recreate what she already had done.
For her third album, Ciara’s intention was to satisfy her core base with the sound they fell in love with while also making space to push her sonic envelope. It was as though she wanted to create an immersive experience for fans with touch points including music, a comic book and compelling music videos. Ciara sought to construct a new world in her artistic universe.
Fantasy Ride was initially planned to be a three-disc album, allowing Ciara to explore different sectors of her sonic palette. The original concept was to take fans on a journey through “Crunk Town,” a nod to her roots and “energy music that keeps you goin’,” as she explained to Rolling Stone; “Groove City,” a peak into her sensual side; and “Kingdom Of Dance,” songs to ignite the dance floor.
Growth was (and still is) Ciara’s way of life. It’s why she never was keen on placing herself in a box back in 2004. She knew she would eventually outgrow those barriers. “I’ve grown in many different ways,” she told Rolling Stone. “Even from the last record, which was called The Evolution because I really had grown from my first record.”
Courtney Walter, the creative director who worked closely with Ciara and the label on the album’s packaging, says Ciara was inspired by The Met’s Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibit.
“Ciara and I went to it, and she fell in love with all the costumes,” Walter exclusively tells Rated R&B. This would become the launch point of Ciara developing a persona named Super C. “We came up with this idea like why don’t we turn you into a superhero and that you’d be Super C, which was kind of her alter ego.”
Ciara then teamed with illustrator Bernard Chang, known for his designs for DC Comics and Marvel, to work on the Super C concept.
In a YouTube video uploaded in 2008, Ciara, who had her album in the works at the time, said that they spent over nine months developing concepts for Super C.
Around that time, her single “Go Girl” featuring T-Pain was initially released as the lead-off to her third album.
The cult classic video brings Super C to life. “Go Girl” debuted and peaked at No. 78 on the Hot 100. It was one of a few signals that there would be a shake-up. Compared to her earlier releases, the song was something of a commercial downturn for the label, causing some delays with the album.
“The response to ‘Go Girl’ wasn’t strong enough to ignite an album,” a rep for Zomba Label Group told Entertainment Weekly in November 2008. “It’s a nice setup single because [the video] introduces Ciara’s new look and her new body, but it’s not the opener.”
As a result, the album, originally scheduled for release in summer 2008, was subsequently delayed.
In January 2009, Ciara reignited the album rollout with the Young Jeezy-assisted “Never Ever” as the lead single.
The tenderhearted midtempo, sampling Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’ classic “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” had a slightly bigger impact on the charts than the scrapped lead. “Never Ever” peaked at No. 66 on the Hot 100, 12 spots higher than “Go Girl.”
It wasn’t until Ciara released the Justin Timberlake-assisted “Love Sex Magic,” the second single, that she returned to familiar territory on the charts. Released two months shy of the album, “Love Sex Magic” peaked at No. 10 on the Hot 100.
Fantasy Ride was ultimately released in the U.S. May 5, 2009, via LaFace Records/Jive Records.
Breaking Down Fantasy Ride
Even though Ciara didn’t get to release the three-disc album that she had once envisioned, the final version of Fantasy Ride was nothing to gloss over. That album is packed with some of Ciara’s most underrated, noteworthy gems in her decade-spanning catalog.
The album’s opening track, “Ciara to the Stage,” was a different feeling than her prior two album openers. Instead of starting with high-octane dance cuts like her hit “Goodies” and the twerk-worthy “That’s Right” featuring Lil Jon, who produced both tracks, Ciara opted for something more sensual.
“Tonight I’m gon’ do something different / To have your undivided attention is my mission, listen,” Ciara coos over a syrupy production helmed by Tricky Stewart. Granted, she’s referencing intimacy in the bedroom, but it also sets the thesis for the album.
Although Ciara ultimately abandoned the three-disc album concept, its essence still lingers in the final product.
Groove City
Ciara began laying the foundation for Groove City with 2006’s “Promise” from The Evolution. The pillowy jam positioned Ciara in a different light, which even had her label a bit hesitant with releasing it. Polow Da Don told Rated R&B that a label exec reportedly tried to get him to convince Ciara not to release “Promise.”
“He was telling me how much he didn’t like it and how it wasn’t going to work because he [was] getting feedback from his urban department and staff,” Polow Da Don revealed. Of course, “it worked out for him in the long run.”
On Fantasy Ride, Groove City evokes the smoothness of a “Promise” but with a more sensual feel. Songs like “Ciara To The Stage” and “Lover’s Thing” featuring The-Dream are as tender as ever, but “Like A Surgeon” is the one that really cuts deep.
Penned and produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, “Like A Surgeon” finds Ciara in her scrubs, working her man’s body in the bedroom with the precision of an operating physician. “I’ma make your body better when we get in the right position,” Ciara assures in an alluring, confident tone.
“I remember we wanted to show love and homage to Timbaland and Missy [Elliott] for their amazing contributions to music,” Tricky Stewart tells Rated R&B. “I’m a super fan of both of them, but I love them collectively together. We caught a wave that kind of gave that vibe.”
Stewart adds, “Ciara brought Missy over to hear the record, and Missy was like, ‘Yo, this sh*t is crazy! This shit’s amazing.’ And that was the cherry on top in that situation.”
Kingdom of Dance
Ciara didn’t just play a song for Missy Elliott; she also worked on one with her. Fantasy Ride marked a reunion between the two artists since they won a Grammy for 2005’s “Lose Control” with the late Fatman Scoop from Elliott’s album The Cookbook.
Elliott makes an appearance on the album’s final single, “Work.” The high-powered confidence booster would have appeared on the Kingdom of Dance, along with its preceding single “Love Sex Magic.”
Singles aside, the Chris Brown-featured “Turntables” is one of the most underrated dance moments on the album. Danja helms the production, which is built around a sample of A. R. Rahman’s “Kehna Hi Kya” from the 1995 Tamil film Bombay.
The throbbing groove marked the two R&B-pop stars’ first collaboration. They wouldn’t reunite on the same track until 2023’s “How We Roll” from Ciara’s CiCi EP.
Crunktown
As Ciara mentioned, her vision was to explore various sounds on Fantasy Ride while also not neglecting her core base, who fell in love with her early crunk&B bangers like “Goodies” and “Get Up.” Interestingly, none of the singles from Fantasy Ride catered to those sounds.
The trunk-rattling “High Price” featuring Ludacris is not only a standout on the album, but it is an essential selection in Ciara’s canon. Vocally, it’s left-field. Ciara’s operatic vocals flow over a backdrop that buzzes like a swarm of honey bees. Thematically, “High Price” is about knowing your self-worth and not settling for less. The self-assured banger was also written and produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart.
“‘High Price’ is one of the best Tricky and The-Dream records ever,” Stewart declares to Rated R&B. At the time, he and The-Dream had a hand in writing and producing a pair of Hot 100 No. 1s, including Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.”
“I feel after delivering ‘Single Ladies’ for Bey, and after having an ‘Umbrella’ for Rih, our hometown superstar had a next level game-changing thing that nobody could turn on and say, ‘I got one like that,’ Stewart continues. “I truly feel that ‘High Price’ was our version at that time of the magnitude of what ‘Umbrella’ and ‘Single Ladies’ should have been to Ciara for us.”
Unfortunately, “High Price” was not issued as a single. It was also among the tracks that leaked before the album’s launch, causing delays. “Jive Records did not hear the record at all,” says Stewart. “They thought we were crazy, and we were like, ‘This is it.’” Stewart admits “it was super disappointing” that “High Price” was not released as a single. “It’s one of the biggest regrets of my career that that record with her and Ludacris didn’t come to fruition.”
“‘High Price’ was an absolute game-changer for all of us,” Stewart continues. “It would’ve been a game changer for me, The-Dream, Ciara, and for Ludacris. It’s one of Luda’s craziest verses as a guest rapper ever. The production is insane. The innovation is insane. There’s nobody that would’ve had a record like that. We gave that record all the energy that we could. But then we had to take it to some motherf——s from New York and they didn’t understand.”
Fantasy Ride: 15 Years Later
While Fantasy Ride did not perform as well as The Evolution or Goodies, it still ranked high on the Billboard 200, debuting at No. 3 with 81,000 copies sold. Some may view the commercial performance of Fantasy Ride as a stain in Ciara’s discography. However, it all depends on perspective. Fantasy Ride is more like a beauty mark than a blemish. Sure, the album didn’t produce commercially viable singles like her previous two albums.
And yes, the frequent delays and leaks tested her fans’ patience. But beyond that, when the focus is shifted back to the music itself, Fantasy Ride is one of Ciara’s most audacious albums in her catalog. It’s the opening of a doorway to Ciara’s sonic expansiveness. Goodies turned heads, The Evolution avoided the sophomore jinx, and Fantasy Ride carved out a new path for longevity.
“As a woman, I’m growing and I’m starting to feel things a little bit differently,” Ciara told Rolling Stone in 2008. “Now I’ve realized I am who I am. I’m just gonna go ahead and be that and not worry about what anyone has to say.”
In many ways, Fantasy Ride prepared Ciara to push her sonic boundaries later in her career. Songs like “Ciara to the Stage” cued the audience for more sensual moments later explored on albums like Basic Instinct (“I Run It,” “You Can Get It”) and her self-titled LP (“Body Party,” “DUI”). The radio-friendly “Love Sex Magic” summoned pop bangers like “Turn It Up” (Basic Instinct), “Overdose” (Ciara), and “Kiss & Tell” (Jackie).
Over the years, Ciara has further explored other genres, including Afrobeats (“Freak Me” featuring Tekno), alt-rock (“Paint It, Black”), country (“The Git Up,” “Y’all Life”), and gospel (“In Spite of Me” with Tasha Cobb, “On and On” with Maverick City Music), among others.
In a general sense, Fantasy Ride was the launchpad that led Ciara to her passionate Basic Instinct (2010), her return to form self-titled (2013), her pop-leaning Jackie (2015), and her defiant Beauty Marks (2019), all topped off with her nostalgic CiCi EP (2023).
Though Fantasy Ride did not achieve its fullest potential, Ciara held onto that vision and used it to propel her career going forward. Fifteen years later, Ciara continues to show no signs of staying in one lane that others envisioned for her. As she sings in her BossMan Dlow-assisted “Run It Up”: “I’m in a league of my own.”
Revisit Ciara’s Fantasy Ride album below.