Ariana Grande Scrapped ‘So Many Things’ During ‘Positions’ Album Cycle Because of Fans’ Initial Lukewarm Response

Fans of Ariana Grande could’ve had more from her Positions era.

In a new interview on the Las Culturistas podcast with Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, the 31-year-old Grammy winner revealed she scrapped “so many things” planned to accompany her 2020 album Positions after many fans didn’t seem to immediately connect with the project.

“That’s such a funny thing, the life cycle that album has taken, because when it came out, it kind of like… didn’t go so well,” said Grande of her fifth album, which spawned hits with its title track, “34+35” and “POV.”

As the “7 Rings” singer began rolling out the album, she recalled, “I just got a little bit of, ‘This is not what we want’ vibes, I think.”

Grande considers herself a “sensitive artist,” though she also understands creatives share their work publicly so “people can tear it apart and do whatever they want with it, or celebrate it or whatever.”

“I understand. I’m very grateful and in acceptance to be here,” she explained, noting that her Cancer zodiac sign also makes her “very sensitive.”

“I just remember that really, like, put me in a cage of judging every single piece. I scrapped so many things that I was gonna put out for it,” reflected Grande. “And now, people are just, they love it like it’s the best thing I’ll ever make. And I’m like, ‘What is that?’ I’m like, ‘How is that fair?’”

“But I love them for it, and it’s okay, and it’s fine,” she added. “It’s not mine anymore, and that’s the thing that I also have to say because I am aware it’s a part of it. And I’m grateful for the voices and for the passion. I really am, but I’m also a person.”

Despite some listeners’ mixed feelings toward Positions, the album proved successful, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 following its Oct. 30, 2020 release. The title track topped the Billboard Hot 100, while “34+35” hit No. 2 and “POV” reached No. 27.

One Positions-related release Grande likely scrapped was the music video for “POV,” which was never released but leaked online last year.

Elsewhere in the Las Culturistas episode, the powerhouse vocalist opened up about possibly shifting her artistic output following her starring role as Galinda/Glinda in the upcoming Wicked film, out Nov. 22.

“I’m always gonna make music. I’m always gonna go on stage. I’m always going to do pop stuff, I pinky promise,” she said. “But I don’t think doing it at the rate that I’ve been doing it for the past 10 years is where I see the next 10 years. I think I love acting, I love musical theater.”