Over the weekend, Ariana Grande defended herself against accusations of both cultural appropriation and plagiarism following the release of her latest single “7 Rings” on Friday. Soon after the track was released, Princess Nokia shared a video criticizing Grande for copying her own 1992 hit “Mine,” ending the accusation with the phrase, “sounds about white.” In response, Grande shared her own statement in a since-deleted post on Instagram Stories, according to Entertainment Tonight .
Princess Nokia’s hit track spoke about the relationship that women of color have with their hair. In one line, the rapper said, “Flip the weave, I am a stunner/ It’s mine, I bought it/It’s mine, I bought it.”
In the initial video, Nokia showed herself listening to “7 Rings” and “Mine” back to back. She then pointed out that “7 Rings” sounded “familiar.”
“Ain’t that the lil’ song I made about brown women and their hair? Hmm … sounds about white,” she said.
Grande, who is of Italian descent, also sang about hair in her new song.
“You like my hair? Gee thanks, just bought it.”
On Instagram, the pop star explained why she included a line about a weave.
“White women talking about their weaves is how we’re gonna solve racism,” Grande wrote.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs1CfN3Bphk/?utm_source=ig_embed
Soon after Grande deleted her post, Instagram account The Shade Room posted a screenshot of the Story, People reported. In the caption, the account wrote that fans are still upset because Grande “missed the point” of the backlash. Many fans did point out on social media that they are not only upset about the alleged appropriation, but also the fact that Grande simply copied Nokia, which the singer failed to address.
Grande herself then joined the comments on the post to apologize for her previous statement. She mentioned that her true intention was to get rid of the negative stereotype that is often associated with the word “weave.”
“I’m so sorry if my response was out of pocket or if it came across the wrong way,” the pop star wrote. “It’s never my intention to offend anybody.”
She also thanked those who have started a conversation about the issue.
Meanwhile, in addition to Princess Nokia, rappers Soulja Boy and 2 Chainz also accused Grande of ripping off their music, according to Fox News . Soulja Boy claimed that the song’s flow is similar to his 2010 track “Pretty Boy Swag,” while 2 Chains accused the singer of pulling the pink trap houses that first appeared in his music videos for the “7 Rings” video.
Soulja Boy has since called Grande a thief on Twitter and asked her to give him credit.
