Ariana Grande’s “God Is a Woman” could have sounded very different if producer Ilya Salmanzadeh had taken an earlier idea to Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Appearing on the And the Writer Is… podcast, the hitmaker revealed that he considered using the song’s chorus for the couple’s joint album before Grande ultimately claimed the track as her own.
“It didn’t happen,” Salmanzadeh explained, recalling how the idea evolved. “Then, when we started again with Ari, we were thinking maybe it could be her singing the chorus, and we’d get a rap feature, but then when she heard the song, she was like, ‘No, we’re writing this for me.’”
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The producer continued by describing how quickly Ariana Grande transformed the idea into the finished song. “I was like, ‘Okay, fine.’ She just wrote all the verses and the pre [chorus] and all those crazy harmonies that are in there. She did it all that day.”
Released on July 13, 2018, “God Is a Woman” became one of the defining singles from Grande’s fourth studio album, Sweetener. The track blended atmospheric pop production with a confident vocal performance, while its lyrics and accompanying visual presentation explored female empowerment and spirituality. Grande co-wrote the song with Salmanzadeh, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha and Rickard Göransson.
In the United States, “God Is a Woman” debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 before climbing to No. 8, becoming Grande’s 10th top 10 hit on the chart. The song earned a nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
The revelation offers a glimpse into the creative decisions that can shape a pop hit long before its release. Salmanzadeh’s account suggests the track initially had room for a different vocal arrangement and a possible rap feature, but Grande’s immediate conviction redirected the song toward the version listeners eventually heard.
The producer and singer have recently reunited for petal, Grande’s eighth studio album, released July 31. The pair wrote and executive-produced the project, which draws on atmospheric pop, R&B, synthesizers and electronic production to explore romance, self-worth and the pressures of fame.
petal debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 295,000 equivalent album units in its first week, giving Grande her biggest US sales week since Thank U, Next. Its lead single, “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” also topped the Billboard Hot 100.
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