Grammy Award-winning US singer Ciara releases first studio album in five years

United States R&B-pop superstar, Ciara, released her first studio album in five years on Friday.

“CiCi” is the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter’s 8th album and her second via her independent label, Beauty Marks Entertainment.

She said she was so excited about how the project had evolved saying she had been working on it almost all this time.

“I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, they would say, went into this project. It’s funny because … I literally gave birth to two babies while I was making it. So, a lot has happened,” she said.

The album features all the songs from her 2023 seven-track EP of the same name.

This includes her collaboration with Chris Brown - “How we Roll” -  which reached Number 1 on Billboard’s R&B digital song sales charts.

“I was still actively putting out music on the project. So, it’s not like I was five years chilling,” she said.

Ciara said she still has the same excitement in the 21 years since her first album “Goodies” and this is what drives her.

“I love being on the stage. I love creating music. I love engaging with my fans and the people, those things fill my cup,” she said.

“There's a saying, when you do what you love, you never work a day in your life. So, I'm like, if I ever stop loving the process and experience, then I stop.”

In an era where albums are often released rapidly, Ciara’s leisurely pace has been questioned by some fans and critics, but she says not everything is about music.

Sometimes, she said, it is just about growing as a human and real things like being a mom and having a family.