[artist id="1801883"]Ciara[/artist] originally said she wanted to keep the [article id="1624185"]guest list to a minimum for her next album, Basic Instinct.[/article] But [artist id="2801312"]The-Dream[/artist] can be pretty convincing.

The hitmaking songwriter suggested [article id="1639571"]CiCi reteam with Ludacris[/article], and the result was the steamy "Ride," the first single from Basic Instinct.

"I brought Luda in, because I felt like her and Luda have had so much success together, they just sound right together," The-Dream told MTV News from the set of his "Make Up Bag" video. "Especially on that record, 'Ride,' that's the first record me and Trick did [for her new album]. It sounded like Luda, and it sounded like Ciara. So [we] blessed the summertime with both of them.

"She has a point she's trying to prove," he added. "But I don't think she meant it literally like that. She's just trying to do as much as she can to regain her status. And I think she's did a good job of doing it."

Ciara and Ludacris first worked together on her debut album on the song "Oh." The Atlanta rapper recently tapped her to appear on the remix for his "How Low," alongside Pitbull.

Luda said he and singer work well together, calling their efforts "history."

"Man, we always pick the right songs to do together," Luda told MTV News over the weekend in Los Angeles, where he performed at [article id="1639312"]KIIS-FM's annual Wango Tango festival[/article]. "She always gives me the right songs; I always give her the right songs. We were actually just talking about that today. So I'm just glad that we have that many collaborations under our belts. ... We'll continue to make history."

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