--- title: Q&A: Ciara on Being a One-Woman Army and Having a “Body Party” With Nicki Minaj description: Almost a decade after smash hits “Goodies” and “1, 2 Step”—and three years after her previous disc, Basic Instinct—Ciara is back with a new single... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7118410/qa-ciara-on-being-a-one-woman-army-and-having-a-body-party-with-nicki-minaj/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-07-03T12:00:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-25T06:00:01.284Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Q&A: Ciara on Being a One-Woman Army and Having a “Body Party” With Nicki Minaj og:description: Almost a decade after smash hits “Goodies” and “1, 2 Step”—and three years after her previous disc, Basic Instinct—Ciara is back with a new single... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7118410/qa-ciara-on-being-a-one-woman-army-and-having-a-body-party-with-nicki-minaj/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f08c2ab1e65bc4b/698a8eae929fad04e6c02244/172024978.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 2013 BET Awards - Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Q&A: Ciara on Being a One-Woman Army and Having a “Body Party” With Nicki Minaj twitter:description: Almost a decade after smash hits “Goodies” and “1, 2 Step”—and three years after her previous disc, Basic Instinct—Ciara is back with a new single... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f08c2ab1e65bc4b/698a8eae929fad04e6c02244/172024978.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) # Q&A: Ciara on Being a One-Woman Army and Having a "Body Party" With Nicki Minaj > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Jul 3, 2013 12:00 PM UTC  LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 30: Singer Ciara performs onstage during the 2013 BET Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on June 30, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for BET) LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 30: Singer Ciara performs onstage during the 2013 BET Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on June 30, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for BET)Getty Images for BET—2013 Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Jul 3, 2013 12:00 PM UTC Almost a decade after smash hits “Goodies” and “1, 2 Step”—and three years after her previous disc, _Basic Instinct_—[Ciara](http://onlyciara.com) is back with a new single ([“I’m Out”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-TTNdyIMAE#at=111)) and album (_Ciara_, out July 9). Here, the 27-year-old pop singer lets loose with Time. **There’s a song on this album,** [**“Super Turnt Up,”**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7yxp9A6qZw) **that lists you as a featured artist** **_and_** **a main artist. Please explain.** I’m rapping on that song. It’s me with a little twist. So as opposed to saying it’s another name, an alter ego, it’s like no, it’s featuring me. I can be very silly—I like to have a lot of fun. **So it’s not your actual alter ego,** [**Super C**](http://www.contactmusic.com/news/ciara-becomes-super-c-onstage%5F1085752)**?** No, no. **Ciara was originally called** **_One Woman Army_** **. Why the change?** The one-woman army movement still exists. I am a one-woman army, in a sense. It represents my strength and all that good stuff. But I feel like, over the years, my songs haven’t allowed people to really get to know me. I want this album to be a new, fresh experience. So the title is me properly introducing myself to my fans. **Would you say it’s** **your most personal album?**It’s the most vulnerable experience—it’s the most free I’ve ever been. I’m such a perfectionist sometimes, I think to a fault. And I finally realized, things aren’t always going to go perfect. You’re going to have flaws. You’re going to make mistakes. And on this album I embrace all of that. I’ve mentally committed to living my life for me. **Can you still do the** [**1, 2 step**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBHNgV6%5FznU)**, though?** Of course. I can do it with a little extra now. Maybe a little faster. **I once tried to learn the choreography from that music video. It didn’t go so well.** Hilarious. **Let’s switch gears for a sec. What’s the best way to throw the kind of body party you sing about on** [**“Body Party”**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rSBcoX9ak)**?** Well, there’s different types of body parties! **But, like, in general.** You have to commit to having the most fun at the highest level. Get some throwback ’90s music: Jodeci, Biggie, Puffy, some old Missy \[Elliott\]. Get some good drinks. Turn the music up on full blast. Have fun. And literally just let go. Maybe grab three of your friends, or just you and your boo. Your body party can be as wild or as chill as you want it to be. It’s up to you. **So long as** [**“Body Party”**](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rSBcoX9ak) **plays at some point, right?** Exactly. A body party without “Body Party” is an incomplete body party. **You’ve worked with Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, and more. Who’d be your next dream collaboration?** I will keep on dreaming about the day I will be able to do something with Janet \[Jackson\]. I know I would love to. I also did [a song with Chris Brown](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DE3tzOKDizc) a long time ago, and I want to re-collaborate because he and I didn’t get to complete the vision with the video visual, so that’s what I would love to do. I think it would be something really cool for our fans. **You’ve also done a lot of songs with Nicki Minaj recently. Are you two close?**We definitely have a lot of love and support for each other. She invited me to her party on The Re-Up, and I invited her to my party on my album. **Was it a body party?** Not a body party. _\[Laughs.\]_ She’d be invited to that too, though—it could be a fun body party with all my friends! ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7118410/qa-ciara-on-being-a-one-woman-army-and-having-a-body-party-with-nicki-minaj/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7118410/qa-ciara-on-being-a-one-woman-army-and-having-a-body-party-with-nicki-minaj/"},"headline":"Q&A: Ciara on Being a One-Woman Army and Having a \"Body Party\" With Nicki Minaj","datePublished":"2013-07-03T12:00:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T06:00:01.284Z","description":"Almost a decade after smash hits “Goodies” and “1, 2 Step”—and three years after her previous disc, Basic Instinct—Ciara is back with a new single...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7118410/qa-ciara-on-being-a-one-woman-army-and-having-a-body-party-with-nicki-minaj/","keywords":["Music","Pop"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f08c2ab1e65bc4b/698a8eae929fad04e6c02244/172024978.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1f08c2ab1e65bc4b/698a8eae929fad04e6c02244/172024978.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2013 BET Awards - Show","caption":"2013 BET Awards - Show","creditText":"Getty Images for BET—2013 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7118410/qa-ciara-on-being-a-one-woman-army-and-having-a-body-party-with-nicki-minaj/","name":"Q&A: Ciara on Being a One-Woman Army and Having a \"Body Party\" With Nicki Minaj"}}]}] ```