Lana Del Rey Stans Ariana Grande
Lana Del Rey is a master of music world shine theory. In a revealing August interview with the New York Times, Del Rey sang the praises (sorry) of both Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande. “With Billie, she’s prodigious,” the musician said. “I needed to hear one line of one melody and I just know. And then Ariana’s choices of intonation, it might not be traditional, but it’s very good.”
On Sunday, Del Rey hosted a small, intimate show at the Grammys Museum, featuring songs from her critically praised album Norman Fucking Rockwell! The set was followed by a chat with NFR producer Jack Antonoff, during which Del Rey was asked about being looked up to by younger stars. “It’s awesome,” Del Rey said, before praising Grande once again.
“[Grande is] very good at not thinking twice,” she said. “Maybe I’m wrong and she questions herself, but I’m very much in my head.” Del Rey went on to say that Grande is “very much in her body,” and has “that baseline physicality, ” adding that “she’s just super fast and on fire all the time.”
Grande and Del Rey collaborated (along with Miley Cyrus) on a song for the new Charlie’s Angels remake, “Don’t Call Me Angel.” Del Rey said that she was inspired by the younger pop star’s “energy level.” Lana Del Rey: official Arianator. President of the Arianation.
Del Rey and Antonoff also discussed their own collaboration. “He’s as easy as I am,” Del Rey said about working with the prolific producer, who has also collaborated with Taylor Swift and Lorde. “I don’t really care if we talk all day and nothing happens. I just feel like if we’re there, we’re supposed to be there. Sometimes we just talk s— all day. It’s easy in that way. He never comes in and is like, ‘Let’s write a hit!’ Because I hate that.”
The musician also hinted at new material. “I used to write about what I did. And then I started writing about what I was doing. And now I only write what I’m going to do,” she said. “So it’s new for me. And I like to let the process reveal things to me. I have quite an L.A.-eclectic take on writing. I really believe it’s magical.”
