Ciara Follows Her ‘Basic Instinct’ on Fourth Album

If you've listened to the suggestive lyrics and watched her seductively sway her hips in the video for the song 'Ride,' than it's a pretty safe to say that Ciara is secure in her womanhood. A self-professed tomboy from Atlanta, with the soft singing voice and extreme talent for dancing, CiCi is all grown up and ready to take her fans for a ride with the release of her fourth album 'Basic Instinct.'

Teaming with the Radio Killers producing duo The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, the 24-year-old chose tracks that tap into bass heavy crunk music while illustrating her metamorphosis into a new faze of adulthood. "It's about me pretty much taking it back to where I started, with my first album 'Goodies,'" Ciara told The BoomBox. "I got to the point where I was like 'where are my sneakers? I haven't worn my sneakers in a while!' It's a lot of elements that I had in the beginning but at the same time I'm showing my growth. Most importantly I want my fans to walk away satisfied and this album is all about them."

In the one year since dropping her third album 'Fantasy Ride,' her lowest-selling release to date, Ciara has been working to amplify the facets of her career, spending lots of time on the West Coast and looking at expanding her list of achievements. But in between paparazzi shots of her shopping at some of Hollywood's trendiest spots and a rumored relationship with 50 Cent, Ciara has managed to keep her feet on the ground in the midst of rumors to the contrary.

"As a woman my perspective on things has grown tremendously," Ciara says. "The way that I look at things, the way that I approach them, my confidence is stronger than ever. With this [album] it's about me trusting my basic instinct. I'm at a place in my career when I can really trust my first gut feeling just with everything. That's another thing that is also been a part of me evolving as a woman and as an artist over the years, I'm way more comfortable in my environment now. I'm [more] comfortable in my skin. A lot of [my confidence is] natural but at the same time in the music industry it can be very aggressive, you gotta' be prepared you know? It kinda' forces you to grow up faster than if I was doing a normal 9-5. It's a really, really aggressive world within music and I feel like that has helped me to grow as well."

Inspired by personal experiences, her friend's stories, and parts of her imagination, Ciara set out to pump 'Basic Instinct' with an assortment of songs that both her male and female fans can enjoy. From the playful 'Gimme That,' the confident 'What He Wants for Dinner,' to the tongue-and-cheek 'You Can Get It,' Ciara's messages are far from child's play. "I have to be honest, I'm shy about this. In reality when I'm with my girls and sometimes we see a guy, and it doesn't mean that we mean this term literally, you just see a guy and you be like, 'ooh he can get it,'" she said of the song. "So 'You Can Get It' is really fun and playful. I really love it. It's very melodic, it's just another one of those things that's real that I think we're all shy about. We would never publicly be like 'oh so and so could get it' but when we get with ourselves we are like, 'Girl, he is so fine, he can get it," she says laughing.

"The beauty of music is that it allows you to express yourself and paint a picture. I've really approached things differently than I did with a lot of my records. I let Dream also be a part of laying my foundation and I 'm not afraid to say that because anybody will tell you that the way that I've written my records over the years is definitely different than the way that I've approached these records. I wanted fresh energy and having Tricky and Dream, and Dream in particular, allowed some of the lyrics to be a little bit different than in my past. So he may make a story from something that I'm going through, [some of the music] was definitely [from] some personal experiences, some things that happen around me...things that inspire me. I get inspired from many different places. It just depends on the day."

Aside from Dream and Ludacris, Ciara kept the guest list on 'Bare Instincts' ultra tight so as to give her fans an intimate experience, which may reacquaint them with what was missing from her last album, and capitalize on the success of what made her stand out from the pack. Bringing a level of choreography that hadn't been seen in R&B music since the death of singer Aaliyah in 2001, her accomplishments since dropping 'Goodies' propelled her to the mainstream, garnering her Grammy nominations and over seven million records worldwide. For what its worth, following her intuition has yet to let her down.

'Basic Instinct' is slated to hit stores December 14.