Written alongside producer Jazze Pha, it was released on November 1, 2004, as the second single of the former's debut studio album, Goodies.

[2] "1, 2 Step" is one of four songs Ciara and Jazze Pha originally recorded at Doppler Studios in Atlanta two years before the release of Goodies.

Pha used laser pulses from E-mu Proteus in the 2000s that were used for old school hip hop songs and b-boy break dance tracks.

Jazze Pha thought about how he could create a more melodic version and "shared some interesting ideas on what kind of music he would like to produce with her.

Contact Music gave the song three out of five stars and called it "arse shaking floor filling R&B" and a "wicked melodic souful twist.

[11] On the January 8, 2005, issue of Billboard, the song climbed to number two on the chart and stayed there for seven weeks, becoming Ciara's second top-10 single.

[15][16][17] "1, 2 Step" was ranked at number five for the year on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2005 and was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over three million digital copies in the United States.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, "1, 2 Step" entered and peaked at number three on both the UK and Irish Singles Charts.

The video begins with Ciara putting her Goodies CD in a radio, setting it to the "1, 2 Step" track, and pressing the play button.

As the song begins, you see Jazze Pha reciting the introduction, featuring Elliott, and then finally Ciara herself.

Then Elliott begins to rap her verse and they continue dancing with each other in front of the mirror, until the songs ends.

During this time, we also see shots of Ciara teaching a group of young girls the dance and also, she meets a boy who is standing in front of his house and kind of gives him a flirtatious look.