The Story Behind How Ariana Grande Made “Problem” the Song of the Summer
Released by Republic Records on April 28, Ariana Grande's "Problem" is an instant hit selling 438,000 copies in its first week. Featuring Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, Grande's sax-driven, 1990's-throwback-R&B jam was the fourth-largest debut week of a woman, and the biggest-ever debut for an artist under 21 and for that "Problem" according to RollingStone is the song of the summer.
Best known for her role as Cat Valentine in Nickelodeon's "Sam & Cat," the 20-year-old star was already a superstar before "Problem," but the song became her highest charting single in the U.S. to date. Now under the wings of Republic Records, the petite power vocalist has more freedom that reflected on her 2013 album, "Yours Truly."
Although the album did not stay on the charts for long, it made a huge impact to Grande's singing career that grabbed the attention of one of the most successful producer-songwriter for the past 20 years. Max Martin, music industry's respected producer has worked with everyone from Britney Spears and Bon Jovi to Taylor Swift to Maroon 5.
Finally after two years of trying to work with Martin, Grande got her wish when he agreed to work with her thanks to Martin's young daughter.
"He has a young daughter that's a huge Ariana fan," says Wendy Goldstein, Grande's A&R rep at Republic in an interview with RollingStone. "He said, 'I've never seen my daughter excited about someone that I've worked with, and that's really saying something.'"
The Florida native diva was confused at first by "Problem's" muted chorus because she is used of belting it out in the middle. But all risks was paid off as it shot to Number One on the iTunes chart in 37 minutes after it was released. Scheduled to be released later this year, "Problem" is the carrier single of Ariana's still-untitled second album.
Meanwhile, Ariana and Justin Bieber's collaboration didn't make the cut for the singer's album. Fans of both singers are patiently waiting for the highly-anticipated song it seems that they have to wait a little bit longer.
"I don't know! it's hard because, I feel like, I love the song and it's amazing but we have to find the right time to put it out," Ariana explains in an interview posted on Inquisitr.