Trending on Billboard
Ciara has obviously adjusted well to her newest home sweet home.
In an epic new video, which Billboard is premiering exclusively below, Ciara takes to the streets of New York City for a 40-dancer Times Square flash mob celebrating her latest single “Nice n’ Sweet.” In addition to the CiCi deluxe track, which features Afropop artists MOLIY and Oxlade, the dancers also get down to “BRB” and the TikTok-viral “Low” in the “NYC Takeover” video, filmed on Nov. 17 during the early morning commute.
“I just knew being in the streets of New York dancing to ‘Low’ and ‘Nice n’ Sweet,’ which are very New York-ish, there’s an Afro-Caribbean influence in it — we know New York breeds that kind of energy throughout the streets,” Ciara told Billboard‘s Delisa Shannon. “So it just felt like the perfect place to have this moment and another ‘this place feels like home’ moment for me, which I loved.”
Alongside her NFL quarterback husband Russell Wilson and their four children, Ciara relocated to NYC ahead of the current football season, when Russ got picked up by the New York Giants.
“Everyone knows I’m from Atlanta, but at the same time, New York is showing our family tremendous love,” Ciara tells Billboard. “And as an artist, I feel like New York has put their arms around me too. And so this is another place that I call home. There’s just something so magical about being in the streets of New York. So I’ve never done a flash mob before. There was years ago where my team had put together a flash mob to celebrate me, but I never had done it where I just pop out in the middle of the streets and start dancing.”
The video begins with a small group of dancers taking turns in the center of a high-energy dance circle, set to “BRB” from the August album CiCi, before Ciara joins the chat in a Yankees ball cap, black sunglasses and blond braids past her waist for “Low,” featuring Diamond Platnumz.
The CiCi deluxe standout has been having a moment on TikTok, thanks to the “Low” Dance Challenge, and Ciara is grateful for the way the platform is spreading her music worldwide.
“The digital footprint has allowed for even more global expansion, you know?” Ciara tells Billboard. “And you get to see the influence of technology, where everyone and their mama can join in on the dance. And guess what? Everyone gets to see people shine in their own living rooms, right? I think there’s some kind of sense of ownership that people have, or a sense of empowerment when their videos go viral. And if we didn’t have these digital platforms, that opportunity wouldn’t exist. So I’ve learned to appreciate those moments and the power of those moments.”
Finally, the Nov. 14-released “Nice n’ Sweet” has its big moment, with Ciara joining the squad for some group choreography set to the Caribbean-influenced single. The star took the opportunity to take pics with all the dancers before hopping in her car and saying of the dance moment: “That was nice and sweet!”
Watch the video below, exclusively on Billboard.
–Reporting by Delisa Shannon
