'I feel very safe and loved': Ciara on her relationship with rapper Nayvadius Cash as she bares her toned midriff in provocative new photo shoot
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She burst onto the scene at the tender age of 18 with her triple-platinum first album Goodies.
And after nearly a decade of success, Ciara is finally ready to open up about her personal life.
The 27-year-old revealed in the September issue of Paper magazine that she feels 'very normal, very safe and loved' in her relationship with rapper Nayvadius 'Future' Cash.
'I feel very safe and loved': Ciara opens up about her relationship with rapper Nayvadius Cash as she bares her toned midriff in provocative photo shoot for Paper magazine
The singer admitted she had remained guarded about her personal life until very recently.
'I thought it was better to be private,' she said. 'But self-reflection helped me to say, "You need to live more. If you worry so much about things, your head is going to explode. Just live. Something has to give." I was holding back so much that I wasn't letting myself explore and live.
'He's very understanding,' she said of 29-year-old Nayvadius, who is an executive producer of the album and collaborated on the first single, Body Party. 'And he's my best friend. It's important to have a feeling that you can talk about anything and know a person's going to be there and support you. When we're together, it's not about who we are.
'Being able to speak about it is a whole different thing for me,' she continued. 'I'm not thinking or caring too much about what anybody has to say anymore. Once you start over-thinking and worrying, you start getting close to insanity. I want my sanity and a life and happiness.'
Sheer appeal: The 27-year-old showed off her slender figure in hotpants and a fishnet top on the cover of the iconic publication
The Texas native shows off her toned midriff and slender legs in the accompanying photo shoot, channeling Marilyn Monroe with her voluminous curls and crimson pout.
Ciara - who grew up on military bases both here and in Germany - also revealed she is somewhat of a tomboy.
'I don't wear a dress regularly,' she said. 'But even if I do, you have to put some attitude into it. I like a leather skirt, which gives you some toughness, but a feminine touch too. I like the androgynous thing with a hard edge: I make things rock 'n' roll -- but still pretty.'
'My best friend': Ciara said she can 'talk about anything' with Nayvadius, pictured together in Las Vegas in March
Ciara's debut album Goodies went triple platinum when it came out in 2004.
But after her 2010 album Basic Instinct failed to have a hit single, Ciara switched record labels from Jive to Epic.
It was a shrewd move - her fifth album Tough Yet Pretty reached the number two position on Billboard's Top 200 in July.
In the song I'm Out off the album, Ciara collaborated with Nicki Minaj, and the pair can be seen gyrating in white lather bodysuits in the music video.
'She invited me to be on her album, Pink Friday Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up,' said Ciara of Minaj, 'and I invited her to be on mine. I didn't feel like there was any other person I wanted for that song. She came in and murdered the verse!'
'We didn't sleep,' Ciara said of shooting the music video. 'We shot for about 25 hours. After a while, my body kept dancing, but my brain wasn't there. At the end, I joked, "Now, I'm out."'
For more photos and to read the article, visit http://www.papermag.com/2013/08/ciara_gets_down_and_girly_with_michael_musto.php
Diva attack: Ciara praised Nicki Minaj, who collaborated with her on I'm Out off her latest album, pictured together in the song's music video
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2403218/Ciara-relationship-rapper-Nayvadius-Cash-I-feel-safe-loved.html#ixzz2dCibuIHE
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