Ariana Grande has been teasing some of her songs online in anticipation of her upcoming album, Sweetener. The first snippet to surface online came from a track called R.E.M., which fans recognized as familiar. Apparently, the song is a reworked version of one of Beyonce's unreleased demos. Last year, the "Flawless" singer was working on some tracks with Pharrell Williams. "Wake Up" was one of them.
Here are both snippets for comparison.
One of her fans pointed out the similarities to Ariana directly, who responded somewhat candidly.
mmhmmm ! well kind of, it’s an entirely new song now but the hook was so dreamy it had to find a home.
i think it’ll be one of your favs"
Although the way in which the track was brought to the project hasn't been confirmed, it's quite likely that Pharrell had a hand in it. The producer has collaborated on many Sweetener tracks, including "The Light Is Coming" featuring Nicki Minaj, "Blazed," and the Missy Elliott feature called "Borderline."
It seems like Ariana Grande is trying to bring some "urban" flavor to her new album considering all of these collaborations in addition to this particular demo making the cut. Sweetener is set for release on August 17.