The Weeknd has recorded three songs with Ariana Grande to date. And while her vocal skills are legend, on Sunday (May 1) Abel jumped into a discussion about female producers to heap praise on his frequent studio companion.
After producer Kenny Beats tweeted in all caps “we need to talk more about women producers everyday” while lauding the studio wizardly of Doja Cat, King Princess, Rosalia and Grande, the Weeknd had to weigh in. “i’ve seen Ariana work in real time,” he wrote. “That woman is a BEAST on pro tools.”
Beats had written about as much himself, tweeting that Grande is “insane at comping vocals with 100 stacks,” while Rosalia “engineers herself at the highest level,” Princess “will walk around a room and play everything + track alone” while Doja has “beats of her own that are unreal.
King Princess appreciated the kind words, responding, “Love you @kennybeats and it’s rad to have people like you big upping people like us. It’s easy to forget that ARTISTS, and especially women, lgbtq+ and poc artists put work in at the studio and often get overlooked as producers.”
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Back in April 2021, Grande posted a series of behind-the-scenes videos from the sessions for her Positions album that displayed the singer’s meticulous, exacting dedication to getting her vocals just right.
Ari and The Weeknd first collaborated on her song “Love Me Harder” from her 2014 My Everything album and then again on “Off the Table” from her 2020 Positions full-length and most recently on the “Save Your Tears” remix from Abel’s 2021 After Hours album.
The Weeknd recently wrapped up a two-weekend headlining run at this year’s Coachella festival, topping the main stage roster alongside reunited EDM trio Swedish House Mafia. Grande is filming her role as Glinda in the upcoming two-part film adaptation of the Wicked musical.
Check out the tweet below.
i’ve seen Ariana work in real time. That woman is a BEAST on pro tools https://t.co/o8S6IUwaDI
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) May 1, 2022
love you @kennybeats and it’s rad to have people like you big upping people like us. It’s easy to forget that ARTISTS, and especially women, lgbtq+ and poc artists put work in at the studio and often get overlooked as producers.
— King Princess (@KingPrincess69) May 2, 2022