Ciara launched her “Level Up Radio” with Apple Music Hits last week, and she spilled a “crazy story” about how her debut No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single “Goodies” almost went to Britney Spears.
Had Ciara’s name not been attached to the Petey Pablo-assisted hit, she would’ve missed out on her career-defining success with a No. 1 song that stretched out on the chart for seven weeks straight and is platinum-certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
“When I had this record, I knew that it was a very, very special record. And I worked so hard on this record, and this industry can sometimes bring you incredible challenges,” she recalled. “But unbeknownst to me… it was myself and a lot of the other artists on the Arista roster, we all went to Jive Records because changes were happening at Arista Records. And when we went to Jive, I had this song ‘Goodies.’ I had to reaudition again, to be picked up and to be made a priority on the label. I did that, had a showcase, rocked it. Okay, boom, check.”
But she continued with the kicker: “Had this record, but not knowing that behind the scenes, there was a conversation about this song being potentially taken from me and given to an artist like Britney Spears, who was on the same roster as me. I learned about the story later, but the crazy thing for me is that if I would’ve known about it then, I would have fought tooth and nail. It was because it’s a record that I actually was a part of creating. I was heavily involved in the writing side of it as well.”
Ciara co-wrote “Goodies” with her ATL pals Sean Garrett, Lil Jon (who also produced the song), LaMarquis Jefferson, Craig Love and Zachary Wallace. Not only did she manage to keep her name engraved on her very first historic single, but she also managed to make her high school dream come true of landing a No. 1 single on the Hot 100.
“This was my very first song that I put out into the universe. My first song, and by God’s grace, it also was a No. 1 song, and it lasted on the Billboard charts for eight weeks. It was just kind of surreal to see that my dream was coming true,” she continued. “There’s a video out there of me somewhere. I’m graduating from high school a year before that, and they asked me, they said, ‘Ciara, where do you see yourself a year from now?’ And in my super Atlanta country voice, I was like, ‘I see myself having a number one song on a Billboard chart.'”
Catch snippets of Ciara’s “Level Up Radio” episode with Apple Music Hits, and tune in Thursdays at 11 a.m. PST for more.
