It's been a rough few months for [artist id="1801883"]Ciara[/artist]. First, there was her rather odd flap with the editors of [article id="1595459"]Vibe magazine[/article] over their October 2008 cover, which either did or did not feature her nude on the cover. Then, she changed management and struggled to put the finishing touches on her Fantasy Ride album, which has been in the works since at least last spring.

Still, she's made it through the drama. And with Fantasy Ride finally slated to see the light of day on April 7, she's getting down to the business of promoting the [article id="1602416"]first single, "Never Ever,"[/article] a song that, to hear her tell it, is all about heartbreaks she's endured. Seems she's looking to give her fans a taste of her pain.

"The record's just a real record. I can relate to it myself. I've been in a relationship before where I've given 100 percent, and I feel like I was given 80 percent," she told MTV News on the set of the "Never Ever" video. "I fought so long to try and keep it up -- keep it afloat and to keep it together, and you got to realize that if somebody's not going to want to -- and the key word is 'want to' -- love you the same way you love them, then it shouldn't be.

"I can definitely relate to that scenario myself. It's a real situation, and it seems to be very common nowadays in conversations about love and relationships," she continued. "A lot of times, it seems, it's always one person giving 100 percent and the other person gives 80. So, it's just real -- something real that I definitely know should be talked about, and I've experienced it before."

[article id="1528153"]Ciara split from her longtime boyfriend Bow Wow[/article] in 2006, and rumors had her [article id="1575523"]romantically linked to 50 Cent[/article], but she won't divulge who "Never Ever" is actually about. Instead, she prefers to let the song, and the video -- directed by vet Chris Robinson -- do the talking for her.

"The video, like the record, is about confusion," she smiled. " 'Never Ever' is talking about the confusion of love and that's just the little story [within the video]: We tell the many angles of love ... or of the love confusion."