Ariana Grande has found new meaning in songs that remind her of less-than-perfect times. During her visit to Hot Ones on Thursday, the singer opened up about the music of her early career and how therapy has helped her “re-embrace” some of the songs.
“There was a period where it was hard for me to feel the same gratitude that I feel now for some of the songs and music because I think some of them were such a stressful time,” evil “I think becoming a pop star at 19 or 20 is crazy and I think that experience was tied to some of the songs a little bit,” the actress said.
“I can relate some of the more emotional songs to the experience that inspired them, but with time and therapy, we're able to kind of re-embrace them.” [them]”I feel really proud, grateful and happy when I hear them, whereas before I would hear them and cry,” she continued.
Speaking about her early successes, Grande also recalled her history with producer Max Martin, who produced many of her biggest hits, including her first number one hit, “Break Free.”
“I was a lot younger, and I didn’t want to use the same melody on ‘Say I Don’t Want You,’ and he said, ‘No, the melody has to be really annoying,’” Grande recalled. “It has to be like, say i don't want you“And I said, 'Well…' and that's what made the song onto the record!”
“I'm so grateful for that because it made it so much better. I love this song, and I love what this song has done for so many people,” she added.
While nibbling on faux chicken wings (they're vegan) and sipping iced coffee, Grande expressed her admiration for Imogen Heap and the singer's use of live repetition in performances.
“I fell in love with her watching Imogen Heap at a young age. She’s my favorite musician ever and I used that to build her live songs,” she said. “To watch her do that and show the audience that these lush, emotional vocals and strings are my voice. She takes the time… and puts everything in. She really inspired me when I was younger. I’m so obsessed with music and sound production.”
The singer who released her album eternal sunshine Earlier this year – she also reflected on the “inhuman” feeling of her art being leaked after she saw clips of studio sessions leaked on TikTok earlier this year, including a song called “Fantasize” that was supposed to be for a TV show.
“It’s really hard for me because it’s really frustrating and disappointing,” Grande said. “And I’m constantly trying to get to the bottom of how people get things, whether it’s videos or pictures or audio or songs… So it’s conflicting because it’s so frustrating and it feels insulting to me, and then the other side is I’m so grateful to be an artist that people care about, and my fans want more from me.”
“They go to these extremes to steal and break in… I'm sitting somewhere between being grateful to be here at all and saying, but really, come on, so this is how I feel,” she added.
