Speaking in an interview with Fader Ariana revealed that she actually auditioned eight different rappers for the collaboration saying, "I don't mean to sound like a terrible person, but I wasn't in love with any of it." She went on to reveal how she approached her friend and 'Starships' rapper Nicki Minaj, to collaborate, with her revealing she texted Nicki who replied, 'Ho-lee-s-t-I-love-this.'
Ariana then went on to reveal how she went to the studio in her slippers and pyjamas to record the song and "she killed it."
Whilst Ariana wouldn't reveal which eight rappers didn't make the cut, many fans have speculated one of them could have been Drake. These speculations have been fueled by Ariana's mum recently liking a tweet from a fan which said, '"The Light Is Coming “ is a collab between Ariana and Nicki!! NO ONE ELSE 😊'. sic
See some of the best collaborations we've had so far this year.
Camila Cabello and Young Thug
Former Fifth Harmony singer Camila Cabello dominated the charts with her massive collaboration with Young Thug on the catchy single 'Havana'.
Ariana Grande auditioned EIGHT rappers for her new song 'The Light Is Coming'
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Ellie Goulding and Diplo
After taking time off, Ellie Goulding returned in 2018 with 'Close To Me', featuring Diplo.
Camila Cabello and Young Thug
Former Fifth Harmony singer Camila Cabello dominated the charts with her massive collaboration with Young Thug on the catchy single 'Havana'.
Dua Lipa and Calvin Harris
BRIT Award winner Dua Lipa teamed up with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris to create their amazing summer track 'One Kiss'.
Cardi B and Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars enlisted the help of American rapper Cardi B to re-release his super upbeat single 'Finesse'.
Rita Ora with Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charlie XCX
Rita Ora teamed up with Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charlie XCX for her single 'Girls' in May.
Liam Payne and Rita Ora
Former One Direction singer Liam Payne joined forces with Rita Ora to record the Fifty Shade Freed single 'For You'.
Paloma Faith and Sigala
Paloma Faith lent her vocals to Sigala's amazing single 'Lullaby'.
Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton
Justin Timberlake made his return to music in 2018 and teamed up with American singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton for the massive single 'Say Something'.
Anne-Marie and Marshmello
British singer Anne-Marie and American music producer Marshmello worked together to create the incredible 'Friends'.
Jess Glynne and Rudimental
Jess Glynne teamed up with Rudimental on the single 'These Days' to help her become the first British female solo artist to ever score six UK Number 1 singles.
Calum Scott and Leona Lewis
Former Britain's Got Talent star Calum Scott and winner of The X Factor Leona Lewis teamed up on the stunning single 'You Are The Reason'.
Camila Cabello and Pharrell
Camila Cabello and Pharrell have teamed up for 'Sangria Wine'. This new song didn't make it onto Camila's self-titled debut solo album, but it has now been released as a single.
Maroon 5 and Cardi B
Maroon 5 and Cardi B teamed up for 'Girls Like You'. The music video stars a number of celebrities including Camila Cabello, Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Lopez, Rita Ora and Adam Levine's wife Behati Prinsloo and their daughter Dusty Rose. The photo shows the lead singer from Maroon 5, Adam Levine and Cardi B.
Nicki Minaj ft. Ariana Grande
Superstar rapper Nicki Minaj has teamed up with Ariana Grande for another great collaboration, 'Bed'. 'Bed' is the follow up to Nicki's 'Chun-Li' and features on her fourth studio album, 'Queen'.
Sigala - featuring Fuse ODG, Sean Paul and Kent Jones
Sigala's song is quite the collaboration, it fuses together inspiration from each of the collaborators. Sigala described the song as an, "Amazing mix of cultures with Sean Paul from Jamaica, Fuse ODG from Ghana and Kent Jones from America."
Little Mix and Cheat Codes
This track is Little Mix's first song to be released in 2018 and quite different from their usual sound.
Jax Jones featuring Mabel
'Ring Ring' is Jax Jones's first song since 2017, the music video includes graphics of a spaceman interspersed with a bag of sweets called Jax Jones, in the style of a Haribo bag.
David Guetta and Anne-Marie
David Guetta and Anne-Marie team up for the first time to release 'Don't Leave Me Alone'.
DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance The Rapper and Quavo
DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance The Rapper and Quavo have teamed up to release 'No Brainer'.
Calvin Harris and Sam Smith
Calvin Harris and Sam Smith teamed up on 'Promises'.
Bastille and Marshmello
Bastille and Marshmello have teamed up for their new single 'Happier'. Lead singer Dan (pictured) tweeted saying, 'Last year we wrote a song called "Happier" which we thought would be great as a collaboration. We had a lot of fun getting to work on it with Marshmello who managed to find some joy in the melancholy…'.
Sigala, Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor and French Montana
British DJ Sigala has dropped another fantastic single, this time teaming up with some big names, including Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor and French Montana!
Olly Murs and Snoop Dogg
Olly Murs and Snoop Dogg have teamed up for the fantastic single 'Moves'. They dropped the song the lyric video on the 27th September.
Little Mix and Nicki Minaj
The Little Mix girls teamed up with American rapper Nicki Minaj for their amazing hit single 'Woman Like Me'.
Liam Payne, Jonas Blue and Lennon Stella
Liam, Jonas and Lennon teamed up on the hit 'Polaroid' in 2018. The single was a massive hit with fans with its summery vibe.
James Arthur and Anne-Marie
The amazing James Arthur and Anne-Marie teamed up to release their own rendition of 'Rewrite The Stars' from The Greatest Showman.
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper teamed up together when they both starred in 2018 film A Star Is Born. Their duet 'Shallow' took the charts by storm, with many fans dubbing it their 'favourite duet' of the year.
Ellie Goulding and Diplo
After taking time off, Ellie Goulding returned in 2018 with 'Close To Me', featuring Diplo.
Camila Cabello and Young Thug
Former Fifth Harmony singer Camila Cabello dominated the charts with her massive collaboration with Young Thug on the catchy single 'Havana'.
Dua Lipa and Calvin Harris
BRIT Award winner Dua Lipa teamed up with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris to create their amazing summer track 'One Kiss'.
Cardi B and Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars enlisted the help of American rapper Cardi B to re-release his super upbeat single 'Finesse'.
Rita Ora with Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charlie XCX
Rita Ora teamed up with Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charlie XCX for her single 'Girls' in May.
Liam Payne and Rita Ora
Former One Direction singer Liam Payne joined forces with Rita Ora to record the Fifty Shade Freed single 'For You'.
Paloma Faith and Sigala
Paloma Faith lent her vocals to Sigala's amazing single 'Lullaby'.
Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton
Justin Timberlake made his return to music in 2018 and teamed up with American singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton for the massive single 'Say Something'.
Anne-Marie and Marshmello
British singer Anne-Marie and American music producer Marshmello worked together to create the incredible 'Friends'.
Jess Glynne and Rudimental
Jess Glynne teamed up with Rudimental on the single 'These Days' to help her become the first British female solo artist to ever score six UK Number 1 singles.
Calum Scott and Leona Lewis
Former Britain's Got Talent star Calum Scott and winner of The X Factor Leona Lewis teamed up on the stunning single 'You Are The Reason'.
Camila Cabello and Pharrell
Camila Cabello and Pharrell have teamed up for 'Sangria Wine'. This new song didn't make it onto Camila's self-titled debut solo album, but it has now been released as a single.
Maroon 5 and Cardi B
Maroon 5 and Cardi B teamed up for 'Girls Like You'. The music video stars a number of celebrities including Camila Cabello, Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Lopez, Rita Ora and Adam Levine's wife Behati Prinsloo and their daughter Dusty Rose. The photo shows the lead singer from Maroon 5, Adam Levine and Cardi B.
Nicki Minaj ft. Ariana Grande
Superstar rapper Nicki Minaj has teamed up with Ariana Grande for another great collaboration, 'Bed'. 'Bed' is the follow up to Nicki's 'Chun-Li' and features on her fourth studio album, 'Queen'.
Sigala - featuring Fuse ODG, Sean Paul and Kent Jones
Sigala's song is quite the collaboration, it fuses together inspiration from each of the collaborators. Sigala described the song as an, "Amazing mix of cultures with Sean Paul from Jamaica, Fuse ODG from Ghana and Kent Jones from America."
Little Mix and Cheat Codes
This track is Little Mix's first song to be released in 2018 and quite different from their usual sound.
Jax Jones featuring Mabel
'Ring Ring' is Jax Jones's first song since 2017, the music video includes graphics of a spaceman interspersed with a bag of sweets called Jax Jones, in the style of a Haribo bag.
David Guetta and Anne-Marie
David Guetta and Anne-Marie team up for the first time to release 'Don't Leave Me Alone'.
DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance The Rapper and Quavo
DJ Khaled, Justin Bieber, Chance The Rapper and Quavo have teamed up to release 'No Brainer'.
Calvin Harris and Sam Smith
Calvin Harris and Sam Smith teamed up on 'Promises'.
Bastille and Marshmello
Bastille and Marshmello have teamed up for their new single 'Happier'. Lead singer Dan (pictured) tweeted saying, 'Last year we wrote a song called "Happier" which we thought would be great as a collaboration. We had a lot of fun getting to work on it with Marshmello who managed to find some joy in the melancholy…'.
Sigala, Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor and French Montana
British DJ Sigala has dropped another fantastic single, this time teaming up with some big names, including Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor and French Montana!
Olly Murs and Snoop Dogg
Olly Murs and Snoop Dogg have teamed up for the fantastic single 'Moves'. They dropped the song the lyric video on the 27th September.
Little Mix and Nicki Minaj
The Little Mix girls teamed up with American rapper Nicki Minaj for their amazing hit single 'Woman Like Me'.
Liam Payne, Jonas Blue and Lennon Stella
Liam, Jonas and Lennon teamed up on the hit 'Polaroid' in 2018. The single was a massive hit with fans with its summery vibe.
James Arthur and Anne-Marie
The amazing James Arthur and Anne-Marie teamed up to release their own rendition of 'Rewrite The Stars' from The Greatest Showman.
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper teamed up together when they both starred in 2018 film A Star Is Born. Their duet 'Shallow' took the charts by storm, with many fans dubbing it their 'favourite duet' of the year.
Ellie Goulding and Diplo
After taking time off, Ellie Goulding returned in 2018 with 'Close To Me', featuring Diplo.
Earlier this week Ariana teased her new collaboration on social media uploading the video without a caption. Her video has been greeted with over 50K retweets and over 200K likes, whilst a massive 17K fans have left comments.
The song is expected to drop very soon and will be the follow-up to Ariana's 'No Tears Left To Cry' which was released in April. 'No Tears Left To Cry' was the first new music from Ariana after nearly a year following the devastating events of 22nd May 2017, when 22 people were killed after a bomb at the Manchester Arena, following one of her concerts.
In the same interview that Ariana revealed details of her collaboration she also opened up about the therapy following the events of the 22nd May 2017. She told Fader, “I guess I thought with time, and therapy, and writing, and pouring my heart out, and talking to my friends and family that it would be easier to talk about, but it’s still so hard to find the words."
She went on to reveal that taking time out was important, explaining she watched a lot of TV and also spent time working on her new album, 'Sweetener'.
"It has helped me deal with so much. I think it’s great for everybody. Especially in this regard. Therapy is the best. It really is," Ariana continued, "I feel like all of a sudden I woke up and I’m an adult. It’s really crazy for me."
Ariana Grande's forthcoming album 'Sweetener' is expected to drop this summer.
