Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for AGSince the release of Sweetener last year, Ariana Grande has become a music-making machine, dropping her thank u, next album, as well as collaborations with Social House and Victoria Monet. A Normani single she co-wrote is coming on Friday — and there’s also that joint Charlie’s Angels song with Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Ray to look forward to. But as her manager explains, it’s all because Ari’s music can’t keep up with her life.
Speaking to the U.K. publication Music Week, Scooter Braun says, “Ariana has always been restless when it comes to her music. She loves making music, [but]…she always wants to give more, because everything in her music is a translation of what she’s going through in real life.”
“And she doesn’t feel like her life moves in year-and-a-half chapters, it moves faster than that,” he adds. “So…we decided not to move in year-and-a-half cycles, but move when culture dictates. Streaming gave us the ability to do it properly.”
Meanwhile, Louis Bloom, the head of Ariana’s U.K. label, tells Music Week why he thinks Ariana has become such a global pop superstar.
“I think she’s completely authentic. She constantly appreciates and rewards her fans,” says Bloom, adding, “She’s a megastar but she’s still accessible.”
“But ultimately, I just think she writes amazing, credible songs,” he concludes. “‘thank u, next,’ to me, is the song of a generation. She has the voice of a generation as well.”
Michael Alexander, another label exec, agrees.
“Fans can see what’s real and what’s not real,” he notes. “I think that when artists are speaking from the heart, and they’re writing the music and the words, it makes a huge difference.”
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