Ariana Grande isn’t switching positions on how she feels about music leaks. During the first episode of her multi-part interview on The Zach Sang Show Monday (Feb. 26), the 30-year-old pop star addressed the matter of her unreleased songs finding their way to social media without her permission last year — one of which, she hinted, found a much more kosher home on her upcoming Eternal Sunshine album.
“The few studio sessions I did, which are all over TikTok, thank you so much,” she began, sporting a head-to-toe red outfit — save for her black stilettos — and matching lipstick. “I’ll see you in jail, literally,” the singer added.
“Thieves! Pirates! Crooks!” she said, laughing but still serious. “Illegal. I’ll pay you more to put it away, like, to get it back.”
Grande went on to give context for her catchy ’90s-inspired track “Fantasize,” which was never supposed to see the light of day, but still found its way to TikTok virality last year. “That wasn’t my song, it wasn’t for me,” she explained, noting that she’d written it for an unnamed TV show. “It was like a parody of this girl group vibe.”
Even so, the “POV” singer took note of her fans’ love for “Fantasize” and decided to incorporate it into her new record, which arrives March 8. “I kind of gave them Ariana’s version of that on the album,” she said. “They’re completely different now. So although you’ve heard them — because you stole them — they’re very different now.”
The second part of Grande’s interview with Sang arrives the day of Eternal Sunshine‘s release, and will find the pair talking about each individual song on the 13-track album. So far, the only single she’s dropped ahead of the LP’s release is the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Yes, And?”
While opening up about having her music stolen, the Victorious alum also shared her thoughts on the similarly viral artificial intelligence recreations of her voice — and let’s just say, she might hate that even more than the leaks. “What are we doing? Why?” she said, seemingly at a loss for words.
“I hate it,” she added. “It’s terrifying.”
Watch Grande on The Zach Sang Show above.
