ATLANTA — Before there were the movie roles, modeling gigs, business endeavors, Grammy Awards, No. 1 hits, seven albums, four children, a high-profile engagement to rapper Future followed by the high-profile breakup and subsequent marriage to NFL player Russell Wilson, Ciara was a 17-year-old girl from Atlanta who knew she’d be a star.

While a senior at Riverdale High School, LaFace, her label at the time, sent a camera crew to document her school year.

“They asked me, ‘Where do you see yourself a year from now?,’” Ciara, 38, recalled over the phone in August. “I said in my super Atlanta Southern accent, ‘I see myself having the No. 1 song on the Billboard chart.’ I was very, very confident. I had big faith and belief at such a young age.”

And that’s exactly what happened. “Goodies,” Ciara’s first song and the lead single for her 2004 debut album of the same name, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. But the success didn’t stop there. The blockbuster album yielded more hits and swiftly became a cultural touchstone that introduced the dance-crazed, cool-girl flair that is Ciara. Now, 20 year later, “Goodies” remains the Southern-style standard for R&B and hip-hop that has yet to be duplicated.

With the album, released Sept. 28, 2004, Ciara made Atlanta her dance floor. Then, she took over the world. The 13-track LP debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, produced chart-topping singles and made Ciara a superstar. More importantly, “Goodies” held a sweet spot in the Black teen dance movement of the early aughts, inspiring a generation of youth that they can step and gyrate their way to the same success.

But, today, Ciara isn’t caught up in her laurels. She simply appreciates the chance to inspire.

“I never confuse my identity for my success. I never feel like my career is what makes me because it’s really a roller-coaster ride, and it’s not easy to have a No. 1 song around the world and sit on the charts for that long. It’s special, so I’m grateful for it. I’m proud of it, and it’s such a blessing to be literally celebrating this moment 20 years later and feeling like there’s still such a world of opportunity in front of me.”

‘I’m not just a young girl’

By the time Ciara signed with LaFace (the former Atlanta-based label formed by Babyface and L.A. Reid) in 2003, she had already garnered songwriting credits for R&B stars Blu Cantrell, Mya and Fantasia. So, when the time arrived to write her own songs, she came prepared. “I’m a girl of ambition on a mission” was her mantra.

The Grammy winner grew up with an insightful drive that couldn’t be stopped.

“I’ve always been clairvoyant on my vision and my dream goals. I’ve always been very locked in. I remember being 14 years old, and it was kind of right around (the time) I started to get into music, To take it seriously. I remember telling my friends, ‘Hey guys, you might not be able to find me for a month, because I’m going to be really in the trenches. My head’s going to be down.’”

Born Ciara Princess Harris in Texas, she later moved to Riverdale as a teen. As the only child in a military family, she was raised with a keen sense of identity. In the Harris household, knowing who you are was just as important as knowing where you wanted to go.

“My dad pressed his clothes a week ahead, like always had the cornstarch ready for the spray, for the crease of the pant. He was all about the details,” she said. “I do think watching him really motivated me because that was what success looked like to me ... I always looked up to my dad and my mom. She also had a very strong personality. I think that’s where a lot of my no-nonsense, don’t-take-no-mess mentality comes from.”

She described her formula for success as the three F’s: faith, family and, of course, fun.

While attending first North Clayton High School and then Riverdale High School, Ciara was a varsity cheerleader and formed the girl group Hearsay with friends that later disbanded. In her free time, she told the AJC’s Sonia Murray in 2004 that she “love(d) being by myself and just thinking, figuring out what my next move is gonna be.”

She eventually teamed with Atlanta megaproducer Jazze Pha and began recording demos for her debut solo album. Johntá Austin, another Atlanta hitmaker, was among her dream team of producers and songwriters (including Lil Jon, Sean Garrett, Bangladesh and Keri Hilson) recruited for the effort. He wrote three songs on “Goodies:” “Lookin’ at You,” “Thug Style” and “Pick Up the Phone.”

The results helped Ciara score a record deal with LaFace.

“She was very aware and curious,” Austin said. “She was curious about writing, curious about how to style things vocally. Even at a young age, she wanted to understand and be involved in all the aspects of artistry, which I thought was amazing. ... To be 15 years old and kind of take an interest in every level of the creativity, was awesome (to witness).”

Phillana Williams, director for Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Film and Entertainment, was an executive for LaFace when Ciara auditioned for the label. “Magical” is how she described Ciara’s prowess as a performer. Williams later became Ciara’s marketing manager.

“I think we all could see it from the beginning that she definitely filled a void in the business,” Williams said. “The way she moved, her energy, the vibe — she stood out. She had that Atlanta vibe. At the time it was coming forward a lot in hip-hop, but not in R&B. Ciara bridged that gap. I think Ciara was kind of a Monica 2.0, but she had the dance moves. Culturally, what she meant to me was like a female evolution happening where women were more bold, more vocal, and she kind of led that.”

'Automatic, supersonic, hypnotic, funky fresh'

Ciara debuted with a magnetic it-girl attitude that was both sexy and Southern. And she had the sultry soprano and daring dance moves to match. Amid Atlanta’s overwhelmingly male-driven snap era in the early 2000′s (punctuated by classic dances from songs like D4L’s “Laffy Taffy,” Dem Franchize Boyz’s “Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It” and Soulja Boy’s “Crank”), Ciara emerged with an around-the-way appeal and a fresh aura that inspired a legion of Black girls who grew up watching her.

You didn’t just want to be with Ciara. You wanted to be her.

Her debut single “Goodies” had all eyes and ears on her. But the song sustained several changes before it was released, including its title. Originally, it was named “Cookies,” but Ciara and her team wanted a buzzier term, so they landed at “Goodies.” Produced by Sean Garrett and Lil Jon, the song took a month to complete. Ciara wanted to be as meticulous as possible with the production.

“This song is a female empowerment record,” Ciara said of her thought process at the time. “This is going to be my introduction to the world, so I gotta make every detail matter. I would ride in my car every day, put it in and keep playing every line on the hook to make sure it was right.”

For Williams, ensuring the song didn’t become bigger than Ciara’s artistry was a priority. Before the song’s release, Lil Jon had already produced gargantuan crunk hits like Petey Pablo’s “Freak-A-Leek” and Usher’s “Yeah!” Williams wanted Ciara to sustain the popularity of the song and continue the momentum.

“We just had to make sure that Ciara, the artist, could compete with a song of that magnitude because we knew it was going to be big,” said Williams. “For us, it’s like we got to make sure that she’s equally, if not more important than this monster hit that she’s about to put out.”

With blazing bass and stellar choreography, Ciara made a coquettish crunk anthem about a woman’s sexual autonomy. (“If you’re lookin’ for the goodies / Keep on lookin,’ cause they stay in the jar,” she sings in the chorus). The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and remained No. 1 for seven weeks, making history as the longest-running No. 1 debut single by a female artist since 1977 (Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life”).

But the party didn’t stop there. The album also boasted singles like the Missy Elliott-assisted dance hit “One, Two Step” and “Oh,” which featured Ludacris. The music included memorable videos and a fashion sense that made a bold declaration: Ciara is here to stay.

In the video for “Goodies,” she sports a sleeveless Black bodysuit with a deep V-neck and low-rise jeans while dancing in a red drop-top that rides in the streets of southwest Atlanta. For “One, Two Step,” she wears an all-Black outfit against a wall of mirrors while she dances as if she were dancing for the final time. And in “Oh,” she ditched her Black fits for an indelible orange-and-blue striped crop jacket with jeans.

Elsewhere on the album are songs like the bubbly bass-heavy “Hotline,” on which Ciara fawns over a new crush. “And I” is a lovey-dovey ballad about a blossoming relationship. “Thug Style” is a more soulful, up-tempo track that centers Ciara’s infatuation on how sweet her man treats her.

“Goodies” marked a glorious coming-of-age arc that starred Ciara as a young woman who knew what she wanted just as much as she knew what she wouldn’t settle for.

“I thought about artists that I loved and artists that stood the test of time to me like Michael and Janet Jackson,” Ciara said about creating “Goodies.” “They always had a clear point of view, so it was important to me that when I made my first steps on the scene, that I really planted my feet and was really intentional. I was confident, and I also wanted to inspire. That’s always been so important for me from Day One with all my records. Some records may be more sensual than others, or maybe just more fun and lighthearted, but my goal is inspiration.”

'This is where they stay crunk, throw it up'

“Goodies” is both an ode to Ciara’s growth and Atlanta’s.

The cinematic universe for Ciara’s album became the Atlanta kickback you needed to dance at, even if you didn’t know how to. There were roller skates, car washes, big gold hoop earrings, backyard parties, dance-offs and cameos from fellow Atlanta artists like Monica, Rasheeda, Gucci Mane and Boyz n Da Hood.

And in Ciara, Atlanta found itself a female showcase who perfectly blended the elements of crunk, R&B, rap, dance and made it pop. Inspired by the success of TLC and Kilo Ali and cultural dances like Yeeking, she instantly became the dance-driven phenom with a hood flair that was so Atlanta that she had no peers. Ciara, the superstar, was born.

“Growing up in my house, my mom and dad played every kind of music you could think of, but being in the streets of Atlanta and growing up in Atlanta, it’s just inevitable to pick up all that amazing flavor and energy. You can take me out of Atlanta, but you can never take Atlanta out of me. That’s a big part of my pride and who I am. I’m so proud of who I am. I’m so proud of where I come from. I’m so proud of being a girl also coming up in Riverdale, Georgia, and Clayton County.”

The feeling is mutual.

In July, during the first of a two-night stop at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, Ciara was beaming with gratitude. She’d just finished her set as the opener for Missy Elliott’s Out of This World Tour. The superstar was joined by longtime friends and collaborators Phillana Williams, Johntá Austin, Sean Garrett, Jazze Pha, Jasper Cameron and Devyne Stephens. They presented Ciara with several platinum plaques: “Goodies” (the album) is now four times platinum, the single is three times platinum, “One, Two Step” is five times platinum and “Oh” is two times platinum.

The following day, July 28, was declared Ciara Day in Atlanta. When I ask her about those moments a few days later, she can’t help but think about the high school senior who manifested all of her success.

“When you’re just 18 years old, and ‘Goodies’ is No. 1 for seven weeks long, it’s almost like you don’t fully grasp what’s happening to you in the moment because it’s happening so fast. My next song was top two, and the next song was top three, and so on. That was somewhat of a routine. It was a routine for me to have all that happening at such a young age. It was really exciting, exhilarating, but really surreal because I literally said what I wanted to happen, wrote it down, and I envisioned it.”

'Outrageous, so contagious'

Ciara is only 38, so she has a long time to think about her legacy, but it’s already taking shape in the form of the rising artists she’s inspired.

Budding dance-driven pop and R&B duo BFF, composed of best friends Brelia Allen, 26, and Furillo Franklin, 33, moved from Flint, Michigan, to Atlanta this year to further their passion. After all, it’s the hometown of their main inspiration, Ciara.

As kids, the pair watched Ciara’s videos on “106 & Park” and watched her perform on the Scream Tour. On TikTok, the group has gone viral with their dance covers including Franklin’s cover of “Goodies.” He mimics her blue-and-white outfit in the video while repeating her choreography.

“She really was that ‘it girl’ before it became even a huge thing,” Allen said. “It was something about her that made you really want to be her because there was that charisma, that star quality, and I think us being able to watch that, especially at such young ages, allowed us to kind of implement that onto ourselves.”

For the duo’s upcoming debut EP “Yup, We Did It Anyway!” they studied “Goodies” and “Evolution” (Ciara’s sophomore album) when crafting songs for the project. They want to capture the same energy and excitement they felt when listening to Ciara for the first time. In the video for one of the EP’s songs “Baddd,” the group recreates the porch scene in “Goodies.”

Ciara has also been a muse to others like Atlanta artists Summer Walker and Latto. The former ended her 2021 album with Ciara reciting a prayer and the latter enlisted Ciara on her summer track “Good 2 You,” which could easily score a Friday night at Cascade skating rink.

“The fact that we’re 20 years in and we can still sit here and have a conversation about the album, I think says a lot about her longevity,” Franklin said.

Although Ciara isn’t releasing as much music as she did in her early career, she’s still recording. Last year, she dropped the EP “CiCi,” which boasted the Chris Brown-featured hit single “How We Roll.” Last month, she dropped the street jam “Run It Up,” which features rapper BossMan DLow. All were released on her own label, Beauty Marks Entertainment.

“I feel so proud to know that to this day, the records still have a way of finding themselves and (are) still being discovered and still growing and still selling and still performing in a very special way,” Ciara said. ... “I appreciate hearing people say how my music has marked some special memories in their life. Essentially, we kind of grew up together. You grew up with me through my music as a fan. I just feel so proud of the journey.”

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