Chaka Khan On Working With Ariana Grande (Again): “She’s Good On Her Own”
It’s been a while since we’ve had a proper musical icon tell us exactly how it is by smacking down the hopes and dreams of young pop stars everywhere. The one and only Chaka Khan––10x Grammy winner, perennial Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee, funk/soul legend––has been DOING IT for years. She’s seen it all, she’s heard it all. So, by now, the 67-year-old is comfortable enough settling into a routine that does not involve collaborating with any new hot young things. Luckily for us, she’s not afraid to say so. And while the tension over this latest “exchange” between Chaka and Ariana Grande is not quite at the level of Aretha vs. Patti, or Mariah vs. J.Lo, or Dionne vs. Beyonce (yet), it’s still delicious and thick enough to drizzle over pancakes.
A lot of people might not know Chaka for anything other than her baffling appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race earlier this year, where she famously admitted to not knowing what a merkin is (and appeared thoroughly confused and disgusted when she found out what it was). But let me tell you, if this was your first glimpse into Chaka’s world (first of all, shame on you), that same level of IDGAF that appeared on our TV screens is NOTHING compared to the latest interview she gave, wherein she proceeded to shit on everything fresh and new about the music biz.
According to Page Six, Chaka recently sat down for a chat with Vlad TV, and, when prompted by the interviewer as to who she’d like to collaborate with that she hasn’t already, Miss Khan refused to hold back. Apparently, this interviewer doesn’t remember that Chaka and Ariana already collaborated on the track “Nobody” for that 2019 “Charlies Angels” remake that nobody watched), although…it’s probably easy to forget.
“[Ariana Grande?] Fuck her…She’s alright…she’s good on her own. I don’t want to sing with another woman. Okay? I ain’t got nothin’ to say––okay, with a woman. You say it by yourself. And we’re not going to talk about no man…it’s not happening…I’m not going to do no song with no heffer”
And just like that, Chaka entered the canon of cranky divas not to be fucked with (seriously, if Ariana was thinking that she made a friend for life after “Nobody”, she was dead-ass wrong). No word yet from Ariana’s camp, but something tells me Frankie Grande is furiously putting together a YouTube video as we speak.
But it wasn’t all sour grapes. Chaka did manage to pull out a few names of singers she liked, like Lalah Hathaway and Anderson .Paak. So, I guess there is still hope after all. Although what I really want to know is: What went on in that Charlie’s Angels recording session? And why are there no photos of Chaka and Ariana together? Hmmm…
Check out a clip from the full interview in question below:
Pic: Wenn.com