Despite her best efforts, Ciara has not been able to regain her musical equilibrium since she amassed success on her rookie and sophomore albums. Moreover, she has stumbled out of the block after her breakup from boyfriend Future and subsequent dud of an album.
And, what seems to irk the “Goodies” singer is the fact that she has never procured the type of intercontinental superstardom that the likes of Rihanna and Beyonce have experienced.
Ciara sat down with the Guardian and claims that she’s on the level of Rih and Bey. Take a look:
Despite her success – 2010’s Basic Instinct is the only one of her albums not to reach the US top five – she has never become a household name in the manner of Rihanna or Beyoncé. “You know what I think?” she asks, rhetorically. “Everything’s about timing. I’ve had records just as big as those artists, I’ve had No 1 songs around the world. My biggest competition is me.” That and her old label, perhaps. After Basic Instinct only reached No 44, she left LaFace/Jive, announcing on Facebook that they had not supported her enough. Her next album, Ciara, released on Epic, duly went to No 2. “There’s no doubt in my mind how high up this train can go,” she says calmly. “I faced those challenges. I don’t see myself beneath Beyoncé and Jay Z; I don’t see myself above them. I’m in my own world, hungry to grow.”
Ciara adds that she believes she’s going to get her second wind in the game and has longevity in her future in the business.
She’s looking beyond the album-tour-album cycle now, though. “I don’t know if I’ll still be doing music 20 years from now. It’s the foundation of my business, but I want to be a successful entrepreneur. I know I’m gonna be it.” Then she delivers her killer blow. “I’m on videotape aged 17 at high school graduation saying: ‘I’m gonna have a No 1 song in the Billboard chart and sell 3m copies of my debut album.’ One year later I had a No 1 song in the Billboard chart for eight weeks” – well, seven – “and I sold 5m copies of my debut. Now I’m on this next chapter in my life and I can assure you: give me 10 years, it’s gonna be great. I believe it.”