Nearly 20 years ago, Ciara made a pivotal decision in her career when she decided to take matters into her own hands and release her song "Promise" after a Sony record executive rejected it as "the worst R&B song." The "Goodies" singer reflected on how that chance propelled her to fame and ultimately secured her first No. 1 album in an interview with Bustle that was published on Thursday, February 13.
Ciara chose to take the bold move of leaking the song to an Atlanta radio station in 2006 after encountering resistance from the label. The reaction was swift and tremendous. "We leaked it at an Atlanta radio station and literally the song took off and was a monster," she added. That action was a turning point in her career. "Promise" not only took off, but it also assisted Ciara in achieving her first No. 1 album. Sharing the charts with industry titans like Gwen Stefani and Eminem, she recalls it as a momentous week in the music business.
Ciara has experienced setbacks along the way. She also thought back to a period in 2010 when she sold hundreds of thousands of copies of her single "Gimme Dat." Regretfully, the song's performance fell short of expectations. "There's been times when maybe it doesn't work as well as I thought it would," she acknowledged. "But I've been pretty consistent in my belief, so I won't stop believing."
Despite the ups and downs, Ciara doesn't let accolades define her career. She noted that despite topping R&B/hip-hop radio charts with her 2013 smash song "Body Party," she was not nominated for any awards. "You would expect that you would be automatically nominated based on that metric, wouldn't you? "I would say that the number one song is going in a pretty cool direction, and I don't have a nomination," she remarked. "If I was basing it off of the metrics, then I would feel like I failed."
Now, more than 20 years after the publication of her debut album Goodies, Ciara continues to enjoy her creative journey. In 2024, she embarked on a tour called Out of This World - The Missy Elliott Experience, which included Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and Busta Rhymes. Ciara brought her husband, NFL player Russell Wilson, and their kids, Future, Sienna, Win, and Amora, along for the family-friendly tour. She remarked, "The little joys in life," as she considered her life with four children. I'm really appreciative."