WORDS / Rob Copsey

PHOTOGRAPHY / Florian Renner

ILLUSTRATI ONS / Hattie Stewart
ARTWORKI NG / Notion
STYLING / Brigitte Pilla
MAKE-UP / Michael Johnston
HAIR / Dalina Rebollo

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From child star to music star is a story weve been hearing a lot about of late: heres a star whose controversy is that shes just fine with being an old-timey princess. With
sensational illustrator Hattie Stewart giving her unique spin to the cover shoot, Rob Copsey meets a girl with plenty of ambition on the cusp of glory.
S
at cross-legged on an armless
antique chair in a central
London hotel, Ariana Grande
is ravenous. Now 7pm, shes
been up since six in the morning for
the first of four jam-packed days of UK
television, radio and press interviews
to simultaneously promote her new kids
TV series and album. Wearing a pretty
black dress and an alarmingly cute doe-
eyed expression on her face, one of her
20-strong entourage that sit in for the
interview including mum, best friend
and new boyfriend Nathan Sykes from The
Wanted approaches with an assortment
of energy snacks. She opts for a flax bar
and three vitamin pills. Ariana aint
going anywhere yet.
The transition from beloved child actress
to pop megastar is one rife with potential
for disaster. At the moment, Ariana is
slap bang between the two. Currently
in the middle of a 40 episode run of
her Nickelodeon series Sam & Cat, any
behaviour deemed too risqu could find her
falling out of favour with the tabloids.
Be too sickly sweet and theres danger of
losing interest from the masses that sent
her debut LP Yours Truly to number one on
iTunes in 30 countries. I was so surprised
that people took me seriously as an artist
right off the bat, says the 20-year-old
Italian-American. Especially as I was on
a kids show for so long. To be honest, I
thought it wouldnt happen for me. Im
so grateful and Im proud of the music we
created. I cant wait to step it up.
She may be slow out the gate with a
music career compared to her child star
affiliates, but Ariana explains that she
decided to take her time finding her niche
after initially being faced with an album
she didnt want to release. It was all
ARIANA GRANDE
very bubblegummy, she admits of her early
recording sessions. It was mainly doo-
wop driven and very princess-type music.
It felt too young, too electronic, too
current, too mainstream... everything
I didnt want to be. Spending a total
of three years on the project, the 50s
pastiche has mostly been wiped in favour of
a throwback R&B style thats been compared
to Mariah Carey circa 02 and early Whitney
Houston - both musically and vocally.
Unsurprisingly, she embraces the likeness
wholeheartedly even putting up covers
online of some of their notable classics
to rapturous praise - but shes quick to
dismiss any talk of wanting to emulate
their success. I just want to succeed in
my own way, she explains. Im not trying
to beat any records or achieve success on
somebody elses level because those women
are icons. Of course I want the music to be
successful - music is my life - but Im not
trying to have anyone elses career. Im
trying to create something thats unique to
me and I want to do it in my own way.
Reminiscing on when she first realised
that she had an impressive set of pipes,
Ariana recalls: I grew up in a very
musical household where I thought it was
normal to sing all the time. One day my
mum heard me and she was like, Can you
do that again?, so I did. She said, Oh,
I think weve got a problem here this
ones looking for trouble! Noting that
her mum wasnt especially keen on the idea
of her pursuing a music career because
of all the craziness that comes with it,
she insists: She wanted me to be a happy,
healthy, normal kid. Of course, shell
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support me in whatever I want to do, but
her saying, You dont have to do this and
not being that typical stage mum helped me
realise early on how much I really want to
do this myself.
Its hard to believe that Ariana is the
same age Miley Cyrus; a popstar with a
similar backstory who so desperately wanted
to shed her Disney image she reinvented
herself as a tirelessly twerking,
sledgehammer-licking, foam-finger-chewing
rebel. By comparison, Arianas behaviour
appears more innocent and child-like on
the surface, but on closer inspection
it quickly becomes apparent that shes
an old soul at heart. I cant sing
about: Walk into the club, youve got a
cool butt, swag, turn it up - not in a
million years, she vents, sighing with
frustration. I dont relate to it - I
wish I was cool enough to pull it off! The
sad thing is there are tons of girls out
there my friends included - who force
themselves to be that sort of person. Its
not whats cool if youre not happy.
Curiously, it was Ke$ha - a popstar who
career relies on her image as a boozy,
glitter-spewing party animal - to whom
she recently turned to for advice. She
said, Its cool that youre like this,
you need to embrace it. Its cool that
you dont club or party. Youre a princess
and thats ok. Her wandering gaze snaps
back into focus. Im not a child, Im
just not a party girl. She said you need
to embrace who you are, and Im a hopeless
romantic who feels very uncomfortable
in this day and age. I dont think Im
meant to be living in this time, but Im
glad Im here. The idea of these two
people even crossing paths, let alone
becoming friends, seems too bizarre to be
merely a coincidence. I have no idea how

it happened, She admits. Opposites
attract I guess. I was writing songs
with her and her mum just the other day.
Theyre both amazing, zany, eccentric
and beautiful women. Theyre like an
extension of my family now.
Asked if she thinks or fears - that her
years in the business will eventually lead
to her own Miley Moment, she adamantly
claims that shes felt the same way inside
since I was five. I dont see myself
changing like that. Im growing up, for
sure, but I dont feel the impulse to do
anything shocking to tell the world that
Im growing up - Im just going to let the
music do the talking. Not wanting to be
misunderstood, she continues: I think Miley
is amazing though. She looks happier than
ever, prettier than ever and shes doing
better than ever. Her music is kicking ass.
Shes doing all the right things for her,
and Im doing all the right things for me.
As Nathan interrupts us to see if he can
fetch Ariana a coffee, the conversation
turns to her love life. She politely
declines his offer, but her prolonged gaze
over him afterwards makes everyone else
in the room feel awkward. To break the
tension, I ask if her budding romance has
inspired her next album, which she has
already begun working on. Im always going
to be as honest I want to be, she says,
looking painfully smitten. Music is the
greatest form of self-expression. Im the
happiest Ive ever been and Im learning
a lot of lessons from this relationship. I
think thats beautiful and its something
that should be expressed. You best believe
Im going to be writing about him!
ARIANA GRANDE
Shes currently defending accusations that
there was an overlap period between Nathan
and her Aussie YouTube prankster ex Jai
Brooks; something she out-rightly denies.
But its a minor blip given the majority
of fans on both sides welcomed news of
their relationship. They want us to be
happy. And if they dont, then theyre
supporting us for the wrong reasons, she
says, pulling a faux frustrated expression.
If it was a singer that I liked and they
were in a happy relationship, Id be like,
hell yeah! And if they got engaged? Id
be crying on the floor. Sobbing happy
tears, of course.
When the subject of her years on Nickelodeon
arises, where she played Cat Valentine on
Victorious and now on its spinoff series
Sam & Cat, Ariana offers little more
than the PR-fed lines (It was an amazing
experience because I grew up watching
Nickelodeon, getting to work there was such a
blessing). The reason for her glazing over
is probably down to her not-so-surprising
revelation that she wants to give up acting
so she can give her full attention to music.
There are three things Id like to do if I
continue acting, she says. A musical movie,
to do Broadway again and a scary movie. Other
than that, I dont really want to be an
actress anymore.
With a Christmas EP and album number two
already in the works, I ask her if she
plans to stick to same winning formula
as Yours Truly. Its still going to be says, I dare you you wouldnt! And then
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heavily R&B driven, she insists, her eyes
searching for exactly the right words. I
still want it to be poppy as well, but I
dont want it to sound like an extension
of Yours Truly. Its not going to be the
reject songs that didnt make the first
album. Weve started fresh. Ive been
talking to writers about recent events in
my life and Im really excited about it
because I want my sound to capture how I
feel. Barely two months have passed since
the record was released, but shes keen
to plough on because she is now learning
more each day that I used to in a month.
My life is on crazy fast-forward right
now and Ive got to hold on otherwise Im
going to miss my chance. And the person
she wants to collaborate with more than
anyone else on it? Id really love want
to record a song with Imogen Heap.
Thrown by her response, Im prompted by one
of her crew to wind up the interview. I
revisit her desire to act in a horror film,
to which she reveals she considers herself
a scary movie buff. This sets her off on a
ramble. The Ring is the ultimate horror
movie for me, probably because it came out
when I was a kid. Have you seen theyve
remade Carrie? Im very unsettled about
that. The original was such a classic
and this one looks somewhat modern, which
bothers me. I ask her what role shed
like to play in such a film. I want to be
the girl who dies first, she says with a
glint in her eye. You know, the girl who
gets it in the neck. She may have yet to
completely rid herself of her cutesy child
star roots, but with that kind of wicked
streak, it shouldnt take her long.
ARIANA GRANDE

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