“Goodies”

Released: September 28, 2004
Recorded: 2003 – 2004
Genre: R&B, Crunk&B
Label: LaFace, Sho’nuff
Producers: Lil’ Jon, Jazze Pha, R. Kelly, Dre & Vidal, Bangladesh, Flash Technology, French, Adonis Shropshire, Jasper Da Fatso

Tracklisting:

1.”Goodies” (featuring Petey Pablo)
Written by: Ciara Harris, Jonathan Smith, Sean Garrett, Craig Love, LaMarquis Jefferson
Produced by: Lil Jon
2.”1, 2 Step” (featuring Missy Elliott)
Written by:Harris, Phalon Alexander, Missy Elliott
Jazze Pha
3.”Thug Style”
Written by: Harris, Alexander, Johntá Austin
Produced by: Jazze Pha
4.”Hotline”
Written by: Harris, Shondrae Crawford
Produced by: Bangladesh
5.”Oh” (featuring Ludacris)
Written by: Harris, Andre Harris, Vidal Davis, Christopher Bridges
Produced by: Dre & Vidal
6.”Pick Up the Phone”
Written by: Harris, Alexander, Austin
Produced by: Jazze Pha
7.”Lookin’ at You”
Written by: Harris, Alexander, Austin
Produced by: Jazze Pha
8.”Ooh Baby”
Written by: Keri Hilson, Garrett, Harold Lang
Produced by: Flash Technology
9.”Next to You”
Written & produced by:R. Kelly
10.”And I”
Written by: Harris, Adonis Shropshire
Produced by: Shropshire
11.”Other Chicks”
Written by: Harris, Lakiesha Miles, Demetrius Spencer
Produced by: French
12.”The Title”
Written by: Harris, Jasper Cameron, Skip Scarborough
Produced by: Jasper Da Fatso
13.”Goodies (Remix)” (featuring T.I. and Jazze Pha)
Written by: Harris, Garret, Smith, Love, Jefferson, Alexander, Clifford Harris
Produced by: Lil Jon

Background and production

After leaving the group Hearsay at the age of fifteen, Atlanta native Ciara earned a writing job via her manager, for Atlanta’s Tricky Stewart and The-Dream’s RedZone Entertainment, penning songs for Mýa and Fantasia among others. According to Ciara, no one believed in her dreams of hearing her own music on the radio until she met producer Jazze Pha in 2002. Within five months of meeting her, Pha signed her to his Sho’nuff label and they had already recorded five tracks. About Ciara, Jazze Pha said, “What was really lacking is the Janet Jackson, high-energy dance [music]. Ciara fills that void. She’s pretty, she can dance, she can write music, and kids love her. Everyone loves her.”

Soon, Ciara wrote a song with Sean Garrett, co-writer of Usher’s crunk hit “Yeah.” After hearing a demo, crunk producer Lil Jon, who also produced and was featured on “Yeah”, began to work on the full record, to have it released on LaFace, which was also Usher’s label. Originally, Ciara was reluctant to work with the track produced by Lil Jon, reportedly disliking crunk music at first. However, she decided to use the song to go against the grain and deliver lyrics in contrast of female promiscuity lines delivered by fellow female artists. To give her a title to stand out, Lil Jon dubbed Ciara as the “Princess of Crunk&B.” Dubbed the female counterpart to “Yeah” and fellow crunk hit “Freek-a-Leek” by Petey Pablo, it looked to capitalize on the success of the previous songs. In addition to working with Jazze Pha, whom produced most of the album, Lil Jon, and Garrett, she worked with several other Atlanta-based writers and producers including Bangladesh, Johntá Austin, Jasper Cameron, and others, while featuring collaborations from Atlanta’s T.I. and Ludacris. R&B singer R. Kelly wrote and produced a track.

When talking about the album’s theme, Ciara said it was universal, stating, “It’s about everybody. You’ll have songs with different emotions, happy, sad, ‘my heart is broken.’ What everybody goes through.” On her success with the preluding title track, Ciara said, “I’m very content right now. I take everything a day at a time. Every time I hear good news, I’m shouting out, ‘Praise God.’ Everybody around me is so excited, I still haven’t got it. I haven’t really felt it like they’re feeling it for me.”

Singles:

Goodies (Feat. Petey Pablo), released June 8, 2004 More info.	1,2 Step (Feat. Missy Elliott), released November 2, 2004 More info.	Oh (Feat. Ludacris), released March 1, 2005 More info.	And I, released August 24, 2005 (U.S.) More info.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 124,750 copies in its initial week. It topped the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, before being dethroned by the Usher’s Confessions. Goodies itself had a seventy-one week stint on the Billboard 200, and certified three times-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on October 10, 2006, and has sold around 2.7 million copies in the United States as of June 2010.

Charting at twenty-two on the Canadian Albums Chart, it was certified Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. The album charted at twenty-six in on the UK Albums Chart, and spent twenty weeks on the chart. It was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry, remaining to be Ciara’s sole certified album in the UK. Goodies charted moderately in other international countries, including the top forty on the New Zealand Albums Chart and Irish Albums Chart.
The album has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

Charts:
Australia – 46
Canada – 22 (Platinum)
Belgium – 88
Netherlands – 79
France – 65
Germany – 67
Ireland – 36 (Gold)
Japan – 14 (Gold)
New Zealand – 29
Switzerland – 52
UK – 25 (Gold)
US Billboard 200 – 3 (3x Platinum)
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop – 1

Critical reception

Raymond Fiore of Entertainment Weekly commented, “If Aaliyah had lived to make another CD, it might have sounded like Goodies”, and said that other albums cuts “prove she’s no one-track pony.”Noting the singles “Goodies,” “1, 2 Step,” and “Oh” as standout tracks, Allmusic gave the album three and a half out of five stars. Steve Jones of USA Today said, “The voice doesn’t blow you away, but as with Goodies, she takes a lyrically intriguing offbeat path from time to time. Though not every song is a goodie, she does have a few treats in store.” Even though he said the album wasn’t a perfect work, Azeem Ahmad of musicOMH said, “The talent is obviously there but if we are to carry out Ciara’s wish of forgetting about “the other chicks” then there’s some fine-tuning needed. For now there’s no direct threat to any other hip-hop divas, but the void left by Aaliyah is still there for someone to try and fill. There’s no reason why Ciara can’t one day hold her own with the best.”Jalylah Burrell of PopMatters commented that “Goodies is nothing new, but it is executed well.”

Although pointing out the flaws of Goodies, Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian said, “Ciara has no conviction as a sweet-talker but her disconnected style clicks perfectly with the cold, clinical (in a good way) hits.” Mike Pattenden of The Times said, “Goodies has some tasty treats, but they’re all stacked on top of the jar,” commenting that Ciara’s “whispery, girlish voice that is often relegated to the background by stronger performers, suggesting she is little more than a pretty mouthpiece for Jon and his posse of producers.”Slant Magazine’s Sal Cinquemani compared it to the work to Aaliyah, stating some of it was not up to par with the late singer, but complimented the titular track-esque tracks. The work helped Ciara earn several nominations, including Best New Artist at the 48th Grammy Awards. Several Goodies singles received several nominations at different ceremonies, which included “1, 2 Step” being nominated at the 48th Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

Allmusic – 3,5/5
The Guardian – 2/5
musicOMH – mixed
PopMatters – 6/10
Slant Magazine – 2,5/5
The Times – 3/5
USA Today – 2,5/5