Truly one of the behemoths of ubiquitous pop music in the 2010s was Bang Bang, a trilogy of sensory assault from Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. A song so loud it breaks the sound barrier. A song so belted at reality TV auditions it became the stuff of nightmares. And yet, a major hit for all three artists. And whilst poor Jessie J hasn’t quite had the career trajectory of Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, it still feels by all intents and purposes to be natively a Jessie J song. However, there seems to be some drama between Jessie J, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande after shady comments were lobbed about on podcasts regarding how Bang Bang came to be.
The origins of Bang Bang
What we know as gospel is Bang Bang is written by, amongst a few, pop god Max Martin. Ariana Grande then recorded it in full but wasn’t happy with the end result. Jessie J heard Ariana’s demo and liked it, so she recorded her version and then something happened where Nicki Minaj hopped on and lay down a verse. Ariana heard the new version and agreed to stay on.
According to Jessie J in an earlier podcast appearance this year, she said that “It was like a real females, coming together, empowering, supportive [vibe], and then Nicki jumping on it was like the icing on the cake.”
Then it all got a bit … sour
@popcultureclipps Jesse J says that Nicki Minaj & Ariana Grande made her feel like a guest on Bang Bang because they’ve never asked her to sing it with them .. #jessiej #nickiminaj #arianagrande #fyp #viral ♬ original sound – moon
Nicki Minaj responded to Jessie J’s comments by saying she was told to by the label and was paid to do it. Jessie J was then asked about Nicki refuting her original comment during an appearance on Say It or Shot It last week, where she was asked to be truthful about whether she was wrong or Nicki was wrong.
Jessie J says “Don’t know actually, don’t know. Because clearly I was wrong. I was told she heard it and asked to be on it. That’s what I was told. Obviously that isn’t what happened, which is fair. She’s not happy for that to be the narrative. That’s her preference. That apparently isn’t what happened, and she was paid a wad but she took it where it went with Ariana. I was just simply a guest.
“They were another level of who they were at that time. They haven’t ever asked me to sing it with them. Which is upsetting.”
Harriet Rose, host of Say It or Shot It says “it might be cause you’re far away?” To which Jessie J replies “No, I lived in LA at the time.”
Ouch. But the fact this is all booting off still all these years later makes the Bang Bang drama between Jessie J, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande all the more delicious to me.
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