Ariana Grande has a learned a lot in the past decade since releasing her debut album, "Yours Truly," which she calls "a project that changed my life."
"'Positions' Ari would tell 'Yours Truly' Ari: 'Stay present and don't be afraid to say no when you are running on empty and they are sending you around ... don't be afraid to say no. You need rest; you need time. There's a kind way to say 'I'm tired,'" the singer said in a TikTok video posted Monday, referencing her first LP and her sixth and most recent album, 2020's "Positions."
She added, "I would want 'Yours Truly' Ari to say to 'Positions' Ari: 'Don't let go of me. Don't let them make you apologetic or want to shrink yourself. You know what you're doing and don't listen to anybody you don't trust or respect or know who doesn't love you."
Grande has been celebrating the 10th anniversary of "Yours Truly" for the last several days by looking back at the three years that went into creating the beloved record and giving it new life a decade later. The anniversary celebrations have included answering fan questions in two TikTok videos and releasing new live versions of several tracks, which are included in a deluxe version of the album that released Friday.
Here's what the star, who will portray Glinda the Good Witch in the upcoming two-part musical fantasy "Wicked," has confessed about the behind-the-scenes of making "Yours Truly."
The cover art for "Yours Truly" originally featured Grande sitting primly on a bed of flowers against a blush pink backdrop, as seen in a July 2013 Billboard article.
Per Grande, her fans — nicknamed Arianators — were not quiet about their dislike for the imagery. She called it "horrible" before walking back that epithet.
"Well, it's horrible — not horrible. You were right. You guys got very angry when you saw it. I was very sad about that, and I changed it," she said in her second Q&A TikTok video. "You were right, but you're not always right. Your bullying has been consistent over the past 10 years, so there's that."
She added: "Sometimes that works. Sometimes it leaves me with wounds that make me question everything I've done since. Just kidding, bye."
"Yours Truly" could've been called "Honeymoon Avenue" or "Daydreamin'" instead.
"But I couldn't decide, so I just wanted it to be sort of a love letter, an introduction to the world, and how you sign a letter, like a love letter, is 'yours truly.' (I) just felt like, 'Here I am,'" Grande said. "I'm glad that we went with it."
The record was indeed originally going to be released as “Daydreamin’," as reported by Billboard in July 2013.
"Honeymoon Avenue" is Grande's favorite non-single off the album, she revealed in the TikTok video. The singer wishes that the track received the love it deserved — alongside "You’ll Never Know" — as a single.
"Yours Truly" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 when it was released. The singles off the album were "The Way," a collaboration with the late rapper Mac Miller, "Baby I" and "Right There," featuring Big Sean.
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Though it was never released as a single, "Tattooed Heart" is a fan-favorite song.
She wrote "Tattooed Heart" in her room when she was around 17 years old, Grande explained in her TikTok video.
"That's like, the only song on that album that I, like, wrote myself. I do love it so much and it feels like a really important one," Grande said. "So I am very proud of it."
However, there seems to be some disagreement about the track's origins. In a recent interview, Sean Foreman of 3OH!3 fame recalled to Insider that he'd started playing around with the song's lyrics in his phone's notes app and showed his ideas to Grande.
"She was like, 'Oh, that's really cool. I like the tattooed-heart idea,'" he told the outlet.
Foreman added, "I would throw out lyrics, or she would, but then she would just sing it in a way that obviously, I'm not capable of," and called it "one of the most organic writing sessions I've ever had."
Khristopher Riddick-Tynes, Leon Thomas, Antonio Dixon, Kenneth Edmonds and Matt Squire are credited with composing the lyrics for "Tattooed Heart" alongside Grande and Foreman.
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