Jessie J took to Instagram to correct the origin story for her collaboration with Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, “Bang Bang.”
In a recent interview with Glamour, the “Price Tag” singer revealed how she believed their 2014 song, which claimed the No. 3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, came together. Chiefly, she said she and Ari were both offered the Max Martin-produced anthem and agreed to record it together. Then Nicki apparently heard the bop and was so impressed that she had to hop on with an iconic verse.
“We didn’t go to her and ask; she wanted to do it,” Jessie claimed.
There you have it. Only, not all was as it appeared: Apparently the “No Frauds” rapper did not agree with Jessie’s perspective. On Twitter, she clarified how she really got involved with “Bang Bang.”
“Babe @JessieJ,” Nicki began the since-deleted tweet. “I didn’t hear the song & ask 2get on it. The label asked me2get on it & paid me. How would I have heard the song? chiiille what am I the damn song monitor? Snooping around for songs chile?”
Although she signed off with “LoveU,” the damage was done as Barbz (Minaj fans) instantly sided with Nicki.
In a move to clear the bad air, Jessie J hopped on Instagram to pen a lengthy apology.
“I respect you publicly being yourself @nickiminaj … So here I am being myself,” Jessie wrote alongside a collection of memes inspired by the saga.
After poking fun at potential reasons for their argument, the “Domino” hit-maker heaped praise upon both of her collaborators.
“From the moment I met you to now I have shown you nothing but love and gratitude for how f—ing blessed I was to have you and @arianagrande who btw wrote Bang Bang with the insanely talented Max Martin which I found out today. Jesus. What a day. Sorry Ari. I never knew. Wild.”
“I’m the first person to admit Bang Bang would NEVER have been what it was without you guys,” the singer added.
Then began her apology in earnest: “I’m sorry I got the story wrong all these years,” Jessie wrote. “I was told you heard the song and wanted to be on it by someone clearly gassing me up at the label. (Bless them and my naive a–.) Thank you for clarifying I was wrong on that.”
Jessie also joked about getting together for a reunion dinner or, better yet, a second collab. We already know Ari seems down. (Well… she seems interested so long as the new song winds up being better than “Bang Bang.”) Maybe after this apology Nicki will also be willing to rejoin the girls?
“Always love and light from me babes,” Jessie concluded after urging her fans to laugh about the memes spawned by the recent heat.
Although “Bang Bang” caused Jessie J all sorts of drama this week, she had nothing but positive things to say about it — and Ari and Nicki — in her chat with Glamour.
“Let’s be honest: For as much as songs like that are my bag all day, every day, ‘Bang Bang’ would have never done what it did without them,” she gushed. “The gratitude I have and, honestly, the experience of girl power. Since ‘Moulin Rouge’ [‘Lady Marmalade’] there hasn’t really been a big female song that’s come that’s really impacted like that.”
With more than 936 million streams on Spotify, “Bang Bang” remains Jessie J’s most-streamed song on the platform. Its Top 3 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 also makes it her best-performing entry on the chart.