Yeah, and my fans also call me CiCi. Sometimes, when I’m on the stage, they say, “Go CiCi, Go CiCi, Go CiCi!” and whenever they chant that it gets real stank, it gets a little extra—something happens when they call me by my nickname. It’s very personal. So this really is me reflecting on the journey. After 21 years, I just feel so blessed that I still love what I do and have the same passion I had as a little girl coming up. The joy that you get when you get to live out your dream is the best feeling in the world, but there’s nothing better than having the best fans in the world that support you along the way and champion your journey, especially being an independent artist… which is not for the weak. It is not easy, for sure. So this project is really a token of gratitude to my fans.

The single “This Right Here” sounds so you, to me. What defines a Ciara song, from your own perspective? What are you usually trying to capture?

I would say there’s always gotta be some bass up in it. You gotta have some nice drums. And not every song is the most hard-hitting song, but I always like a little attitude in what I do. Even when I do a ballad, I can get soft and make it beautiful and sweet, but expect an underlying tone of attitude somewhere in the mix, or an underlying tone of a little bit of bass, and obviously some good urban chords. I think urban chords and urban melodies are really key to me. I call it “ghetto pop,” or “urban pop.”

Your discography is so danceable, which isn’t so common a thing these days. Is it a conscious decision of yours to make music you can move to?

I appreciate you saying that, because that’s always my goal. I always say, I wanna make the world dance, and I think dancing is a big part of my identity and how I get to have fun with music. It’s a staple that brings me a lot of joy as a performer. Dance, to me, is one of the strongest languages that we can speak. Even if you’re not the best dancer in the world, I think all of us like to try to find our groove through dance. It’s one universal language that can connect us all.