Ciara burst into the music scene in 2004 when she dropped her debut smash-hit single “Goodies,” however, she reveals that song was almost taken from her.

Speaking on her program Level Up Radio with Ciara in partnership with Apple Music Hits, the singer reminisced about her debut single and how she had to fight to keep it from being handed over to Britney Spears.

When she was first signed with Jive Records, Ciara had to prove that “Goodies” was her song and hers alone because “I knew that it was a very, very special record.”

“I had to re-audition again, to be picked up and to be made a priority on the label. I did that, had a showcase, rocked it,” the Grammy Award winner recalled, adding that she felt confident that she just recorded her first single.

“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,” Ciara revealed. 

Although she learned of those conversations only after she recorded the track, the 34-year-old singer vowed she would have “fought tooth and nail” if she found out what was going on behind the scenes.

Beyond recognizing the song’s potential to become a massive success, Ciara said the song was super personal to her “because it’s a record that I actually was a part of creating” and was “heavily involved” in the writing process. 

“This was my very first song that I put out into the universe,” Ciara reminisced, adding how shocked she was to see the song take off.

“Goodies” dominated the Billboard charts “for eight weeks,” which she said “was just kind of surreal to see that my dream was coming true.”

By Megan Stone 
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