"I was 14 years old and ready to make an R&B album," says Grande, who collaborated with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj on the summer single "Bang Bang." "I was like, 'Where is that Mary J. Blige collab? Where is that Natasha Bedingfield writing session? Where is my session with India.Arie? I'm ready. Let's go.' I wrote this song called 'Higher,' and the lyrics were too sexual, too mature. And my mom was like, 'This is a great song, but damn, you're too young for this.'" To bide her time until she could make the kind of music that interested her ("I've always felt a connection with things that were more soulful"), she auditioned for Broadway, starring in the musical 13 at age 14, and parlaying that into a TV career. It took her three years while filming at Nickelodeon during the day and recording in the studio at night to finish her first album, Yours Truly, released last year.
