''CiCi'' is the first

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) by American singer

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...

, released on August 18, 2023. It was promoted with the release of two singles: " How We Roll", and "

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama, based on the novel by Judy Blume * '' ...

", which featured

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

and

Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence following the release of his 2017 mixtapes ''Harder than Hard'' and ''Too Hard'' — the for ...

respectively. In April 2025, Ciara announced that her eighth studio album, also titled ''

CiCi Cici or CICI may refer to: Persons with the name * Cici (singer), South African singer-songwriter * CiCi Bellis, American tennis player * Cici Hong Chen, Chinese singer * Cici Manolache, Romanian footballer Other uses * Ćići, the people o ...

'', would be an extension of the EP; the album is slated for a August 22, 2025 release.

Background

Ciara's seventh studio album, ''

Beauty Marks A beauty mark or beauty spot is a euphemism for a type of dark facial mark so named because such birthmarks are sometimes considered an attractive feature.Ariel, Irving M. (1981). A Historical Introduction: Is the beauty mark a mark of beauty o ...

'', was released on May 10, 2019, through her independent record label, Beauty Marks Entertainment. In July 2022, it was announced that Ciara had signed a new partnership between Beauty Marks Entertainment and major labels,

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

and

Uptown Records Uptown Records is an American record label, based in New York City, founded in 1986 by old school rapper ‘Dr Jekyll’ - Andre Harrell. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s, it was a leader in R&B and hip-hop. Beginnings and success In ...

, under which she would release her eighth studio album. Through the joint venture, Ciara released the singles, "

Jump JuMP is an algebraic modeling language and a collection of supporting packages for mathematical optimization embedded in the Julia programming language. JuMP is used by companies, government agencies, academic institutions, software projects ...

" (featuring Coast Contra) and "

Better Thangs "Better Thangs" is a song by American singer Ciara featuring Summer Walker. It was released on September 28, 2022, through Beauty Marks, Uptown Records, Uptown and Republic Records, Republic as the intended second single to her eighth studio album ...

" (featuring

Summer Walker Summer Marjani Walker (born April 11, 1996) is an American R&B singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Atlanta, she signed with the local record label Love Renaissance, an imprint of Interscope Records in late 2017. The following year, she relea ...

), in July and September 2022. However, her next single, " Da Girls", was released solely through her label in March 2023. On August 2, 2023, Ciara announced the release of the single, "How We Roll" (with Chris Brown); on August 4, 2023, Ciara announced that she would be releasing the EP ''CiCi'' on August 18, with "How We Roll" as its first track. She premiered the tracklist on August 11, 2023, revealing that

and

Big Freedia Freddie Ross Jr. (born January 28, 1978), better known by her stage name Big Freedia ( ), is an American rapper, singer and performer known for her work in the New Orleans genre of hip hop called bounce music. Freedia has been credited with helpi ...

would also feature on the EP.

Composition

In an interview with ''

Rated R&B ''Rated R&B'' is an independent online magazine based in the United States, which is dedicated and devoted to news, topics and almost all things related to rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, ...

'', Ciara shared: "There's always an intentional tone of empowerment in my music ..I always want to uplift my Queens and take them on my journey with me. There's no better platform to be able to accomplish that than through my music." The album's opening track, "How We Roll", is a collaboration with

and "finds the pair expressing their affection for each other over a laidback and groovy beat." The second track, "BRB", is a "nod to

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

club bounce", featuring "fast-paced rhythm and kick drums"; the song finds Ciara singing about missing her significant other. ''Apple Music'' described "Type a Party", "Forever" and "2 in Luv" as traditional R&B and "Low Key" and "Winning" as uptempo.

Singles

On August 4, 2023, Ciara released the single " How We Roll", in collaboration with

. A remix, featuring rapper

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

, was released on November 3, 2023. On August 18, 2023, Ciara released a music video for "

", the EP's second single, featuring Lil Baby. The video was directed by Taj and Dre.

Commercial performance

In the United States, ''CiCi'' debuted and peaked at number 90 on the US

Top Current Album Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

chart. In the United Kingdom, the EP debuted and peaked at number 42 on the UK Album Downloads Chart, spending one week on that chart.

Track listing

Notes *"2 in Luv" contains a sample from "

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", as written by Maurice Young, Adam Duggins and Rafe Van Hoy, and as performed by

Trick Daddy Maurice Samuel Young (born September 27, 1974), better known by his stage name Trick Daddy, is an American rapper from Miami, Florida. He is best known for his 2004 single " Let's Go" (featuring Twista and Lil Jon), which peaked at number seven on ...

Charts

Release history

References

{{Ciara 2023 debut EPs Ciara albums