Back in the day – 2014 – there was a big, omnipresent hit song called “Bang Bang.” It was everywhere, in commercials and TV shows and radios. It was a good song the first million times I heard it. I had actually been familiar with Jessie J before “Bang Bang” but that song really established her career here in mainstream America, likely because Jessie had two great collaborators on the song: Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. It was very girl-powery and everyone danced. Jessie recently did this interview with Glamour where she gave the background on how five of her most popular songs came to be. This is what she said about “Bang Bang.”
“Bang Bang” was a song that already existed. I didn’t write “Bang Bang.” Max Martin wrote “Bang Bang,” and Ariana had been played it, I’d been played it, and we both loved it. We just said, “Why don’t we both do it?” So Ariana stayed on the second verse, I recorded the first verse, and then Nicki was played it in the studio and was like, “I’ve got to jump on this.” We didn’t go to her and ask; she wanted to do it. I’ll never forget: I was in my bedroom in my flat in London, and I got sent the version with Nicki on it. I just sat at the end of my bed holding my phone, staring at the floor, going, “How the f–k did I land this?” I literally felt like I’d won a competition.
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. The gratitude I have and, honestly, the experience of girl power. Since “Moulin Rouge,” there hasn’t really been a big female song that’s come that’s really impacted like that. Me and Ari just spoke the other day, and I was like, “We should definitely do something together.” And she was like, “If we do, it has to be better than ‘Bang Bang.’” And I was like, “Well…” She was like, “I don’t know,” and I was like, “I don’t know.” Because it’s just one of those songs that just caught and went.
The three of us met for the first time at the video shoot, and the song was already number one the day we were shooting the video. Nicki was only there for an hour and a half, and we were just so giddy, all of us. I remember all of us being on set, and I remember us taking a selfie. I remember going, “I literally feel like I’m a fan in the back of the picture.” I just remember laughing. Ariana’s one of the funniest people ever. Our personalities and humor are super dry. We also were big-ing each other up! It was such a celebratory moment. All of us were just giggling and enjoying being around each other. It was great.
Even when we performed it [at the 2014 American Music Awards]. Ari wanted to do the chair thing. I wanted to be more free. I don’t love being choreographed. That’s why I walked down the seat aisles and picked people that I wanted to dance with, like Taylor [Swift] and Khloé Kardashian. We all put our own little personalities in there. I love working with them both. They’re so incredible, and they’ve both gone on to be two of the biggest artists in the world.
Jessie couldn’t have been nicer, more generous and more gracious to Ari and Nicki. She was truly grateful that they jumped onto the song and she gives them full credit for making the song the hit that it was. So why did Nicki feel the need to correct the record? Nicki wants people to know that she was asked to do the song:
Babe @JessieJ 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? Snoopin around for songs chile??This was said by another artist recently as well. Yallgotta stop? LoveU? pic.twitter.com/LShiO3wEm6
— BEAM ME UP SCOTTY MIXTAPE OUT NOW‼️??♥️ (@NICKIMINAJ) August 6, 2021
Again, Jessie never claimed that Nicki begged to do the song – obviously some producer played Ariana and Jessie’s version for Nicki and asked Nicki to take part. Nicki is acting like Jessie was talking sh-t about her when Jessie was clearly honored to be involved with both Ari and Nicki. Ugh.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty.
