Ariana Grande is channeling mid-’90s R&B sweetness on her new single, but she tells MTV News that she’s going for a more “sophisticated” vibe.
Full of Mariah Carey-esque vocal runs and shimmering production, the 20-year-old’s latest tease off her album, Yours Truly, out September 3, certainly pays homage to the divas of that era. And, she says, it also shows off another side of her debut release.
“I feel like ‘Baby I’ is slightly more sophisticated,” she told MTV News about her follow-up to the Mac Miller-assisted “And I wanted to take the opportunity while everyone was waiting to see what I was doing next to show them something different. And I think that it’s different, a little more mature and I liked that.”
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And, yes, she’s more than aware that the song has a strong nostalgia vibe to it. “I love that. It felt like ’90s, Aaliyah, Destiny’s Child. I like that it has that throwback feeling to it,” she added. “And that’s when I grew up and it was such a feel-good song to me. And I love what it says. I love it’s about loving somebody so much that you just don’t know what to say. I think that’s really cute. I laughed the first time I heard the lyrics. I like that I get to sing a little more on it… It’s quirky.”
The song is all about not being able to fully express how much you are crushing on that special someone. And, that’s a feeling Grande can really relate to. “Personally when it comes to me expressing myself with other people, especially if it’s towards the beginning of a crush or the beginning of a relationship, I’m so awkward and so flustered in that way,” she said. “I’m always so nervous to express myself that I feel like it’s a very me song in that way.”
Grande is set to film the video very soon, and she teased that much like the song, her video might “possibly” also travel back to the 90s. “We’re shooting it Sunday and Monday, this weekend. I’m so excited. Lots of color. And lots of… baggy clothes. It’ll make you smile,” she teased.
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