It’s finally time to cover another long-requested artist for the ranking series. And seeing that her best project is about to mark its 20th anniversary (sorry, spoilers) I figured we should give Ciara her time in the spotlight.
While her albums often had their shortcomings, as we’ll discuss below, you can’t deny that Ciara mastered the art of making radio hits. Nearly every project featured at least one song that make a strong mark on airwaves for months on end. But the fun part of of these album retrospectives is digging up the hidden gems that have gone overlooked for years. Let’s see what kind of gold Ciara has for us as we look back at every album over her 20+ year career.
8. Ciara (2013)
Soul in Stereo rating: 3 stars out of 5
Edd said: Hey, it’s the “Body Party” album! Seriously, there is nothing else of note worth mentioning here, unless you really hate your eardums and want Future’s yodeling to demolish them on that one duet. I will say that Ciara’s self-titled does have an energetic pace that brings life to some of the by-the-numbers songs. But hey, we got “Body Party” at least.
Forgotten favorites: …I wasn’t joking. “Body Party” and that’s about it
7. Jackie (2015)
Soul in Stereo rating: 3 stars out of 5
Edd said: Jackie feels like a missed opportunity. The project was delayed so that Ciara could focus on motherhood. You’d think that her eventual return to the studio would provide a fresh direction and perspective but … not really. Jackie does provide a couple of flashes of maturity and motherly wisdom (“Fly” and “I Got You,” for example) but this is largely the same ol CiCi – electropop dance tracks curated by her usual big-time collaborators, but yielding few new results. Nothing you haven’t heard before.
Forgotten favorites: “Kiss & Tell,” “All Good”
6. CiCi (2025)
Soul in Stereo rating: 3 stars out of 5
Edd said: Ciara’s most recent album is another disappointingly safe release, which is a little surprising, considering that the previous album pushed her boundaries much more than this one (but more on that project later). “How We Roll” is definitely a bop – her best single in years, in fact – but the glut of low energy track beats and interesting yet unfulfilling samples (like Art of Noise on “Wassup”) wastes a lot of potential. Another ho-hum release.
Forgotten favorites: “Dance With Me,” “Type A Party”
5. Fantasy Ride (2009)
Soul in Stereo rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Edd said: Props to Ciara for attempting to take us on a new journey on Fantasy Ride, even though the ride is far from smooth. Ciara alters her sound a bit, retaining the R&B/hip-hop feel but putting a larger emphasis on pop and dance, which would shape her direction for the next decade. Overall, the results are very mixed. Ciara feels at her most comfortable when she leans into her original midtempo R&B sound – like “Never Ever” and “Lover’s Thing.” The danceable numbers are hit-or-miss and there’s way too many songs that sound like retreads of previous hits – “High Price” is a clone of “Oh;” “Work” is “Lose Control” Part 2, etc. Also, I still don’t get the SUPER C thing, Ciara’s Witchblade-esque persona. It makes for cool cover art but the superhero concept doesn’t play out much over the album. There’s a LOT going on here, it and it all feels unfocused.
Forgotten favorites: “Lover’s Thing,” “Keep Dancin’ On Me,” “Tell Me What Your Name is”
4. Basic Instinct (2010)
Soul in Stereo rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Edd said: Ciara starts out the album saying: “You can go on write y’all blog/I don’t need ya’ feedback.” Wellll, I guess we know who was reading Soul in Stereo in 2010. But I won’t hate too hard on this project. Basic Instinct gives us a much edgier Ciara, providing a more focused and polished sound than the SUPER C era. The problem is that the album struggles to keep the momentum going through its relatively short runtime. Y’all know I’m a proponent of shorter, tighter abums, but this one needed a couple more strong songs to really cement it. There was potential for a really cool album here, it just runs out of gas too soon.
Forgotten favorites: “Heavy Rotation,” “You Can Get It,” “I Run it”
3. Beauty Marks (2019)
Soul in Stereo rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Edd said: Of all the albums I relistened to for this post, Beauty Marks was the most surprising. Beauty Marks was Ciara’s first independently released album and that theme of individuality and empowerment runs strong throughout the project. Lead single “Level Up” provided needed momentum and it was also good to hear her experimenting with different sounds beyond the danceable pop that had defined much of her career at this point. Now, it’s not a perfect release – like Basic Instinct, it really needed a couple more standout songs to take it to the next level – but it’s much more consistent than most of her later projects. Easily her most underrated album.
Forgotten favorites: “Set,” “Trust Myself,” “Na Na”
2. Goodies (2004)
Soul in Stereo rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Edd said: By 2004, R&B was hungry for a new young female star to take the reins. And I clearly remember how obsessed the teen girls at my church was with the new princess of CrunkNB. Let’s be real – the paper-thin vocals sure aren’t the draw on this album, it’s the A-list production from Jazze Pha, Lil Jon, Bangladesh, Dre and Vidal and a host of others that made Goodies irresistible to young ears. It’s an example of style over substance, but it’s a style that would define a era of R&B. Can’t hate on that success.
Forgotten favorites: “Hotline,” “The Title,” “Other Chicks”
1. Ciara: The Evolution (2006)
Soul in Stereo rating: 4 stars out of 5
Edd said: That title is the perfect fit for this project. The Evolution’s game plan is clear – build upon the foundation laid by Ciara’s debut. And it does that masterfully. Ciara sounds much more confident here, the production is tighter and the writing is much more ambitious. She doesn’t stray far from her previous successes (the crunk tracks are still here) but this is the era where she develops here greatest strength – floating over those midtempo cuts. It’s not only home to her best song – “Promise” – it’s also by far her best album to date. She evolved into her peak form.
Forgotten favorites: “C.R.U.S.H.,” “My Love,” “I Found Myself”
Ciara stans, it’s time for you to beat me up – which projects deserved more love on this list? Let us know below.
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