Pop newest sensation Ariana Grande has a lot to celebrate lately. With a new hit album and and 2 singles (Bang Bang and Problem) in the top 5, the 21year old is quickly climbing to the top of the music food chain. When cameras at the MTV awards caught Grande and rapper Big Sean holding hands backstage and, of course rumors of a hot romance started to swirl.

For the October issue of Marie Claire magazine, Ariana gets a little candid on that topic and more. Check out the excerpts below.

On early ambitions:
“I was 14 years old and ready to make an R&B album. I was like, ‘Where is that Mary J. Blige collab? Where is that Natasha Bedingfield writing session? Where is my session with India.Arie? I’m ready. Let’s go.’ I wrote this song called ‘Higher,’ and the lyrics were too sexual, too mature. And my mom was like, ‘This is a great song, but damn, you’re too young for this.”

On hiding behind her Nickelodeon character:
“People liked her and they accepted her and they thought that I was like her. So I used to pretend to be a little more like her than I actually was.”

On her first single, “Put Your Hearts Up,” tanking:
“I was like, ‘Guys, there has to be a really distinct difference between me and my character.’ And we did that with ‘The Way.’ I dyed my hair back to brown. I made out with a rapper in the video. I made the point I wanted to make. And I was excited to do so after so many years of pretending to be somebody else in front of a lot of people.”

On an incident at Big Sean’s house:

“I was driving to Big Sean’s house on those windy hills in L.A. It was my first time going up those hills, so I was going 12 miles per hour. This lady was whipping around the corner , and I came to a complete stop so she bumped me really hard…the whole front of my Range Rover was wrecked. She jumped out and was like ‘Sweetie, it’s okay, it’s totally fine. What do you do?’ I was like, ‘I’m a singer.” and she was like “Oh, I think I broke my leg,’ and I was like ‘I mean, I make jewelry.'”