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‘I’ve always been my own clique’: Ciara on settling feuds and breaking TikTok with her chair dance

As an R&B star in the 00s, the singer found herself pitted in the media against artists like Beyoncé and Rihanna. Two decades on, she’s building bonds with a new generation of stars – and going viral with a gravity-defying chair trick

That debut single announced her arrival on the global stage, reaching No 1 in the US and UK, and briefly earning her the title “First Lady of Crunk’n’B”, the energetic subgenre that fused hip-hop with club music’s sweat-soaked pulse. Such is her busy life – she’s a mother of four; runs her own record label, Beauty Marks; and is a part owner of US soccer team the Seattle Sounders alongside her husband, NFL star Russell Wilson – that she says she’s still learning about the festival. “I rode in my car, my little Honda Element back in the days, and I would just drive with the instrumental playing, trying to perfect every line.” Having her name on the credits from the off was important to her in a 00s music industry that didn’t necessarily celebrate the input of young Black women.

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