Baby I

Album: Yours Truly (2013)
Charted: 21
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Songfacts®:

  • Ariana Grande's second single from her debut album, Yours Truly, finds her expressing her special love for someone but admitting that she can't formulate her strong feelings into words. "Baby I got love for thee, so deep inside of me I don't know where to start," she croons. The song was released on July 22, 2013.
  • The song was written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds (who is best known for his contribution to the creation of New Jack Swing in the late 1980s), Antonio Dixon, and Patrick "J. Que" Smith. The trio also penned together Beyoncé's hit single, "Best Thing I Never Had."
  • Several reviewers compared Ariana's vocal performance on the song with another singer who has a large vocal range and a whistle register: Mariah Carey. The Sam & Cat star told MTV News that her debut album was inspired, in part, by the superstar songstress. "You know I love just like old R&B. I love the '90s, that whole vibe. I love Mariah Carey, of course, she's the goddess of all vocals," she said.
  • The song has a strong nostalgia vibe to it. Ariana told MTV News: "I love that. It felt like '90s, Aaliyah, Destiny's Child. I like that it has that throwback feeling to it. And that's when I grew up and it was such a feel-good song to me."

    "And I love what it says," she continued. "I love it's about loving somebody so much that you just don't know what to say. I think that's really cute. I laughed the first time I heard the lyrics. I like that I get to sing a little more on it... It's quirky."
  • Ariana told MTV News that she can relate to the song's lyrical content about getting tongue-tied when you're with somebody you like. "Personally when it comes to me expressing myself with other people, especially if it's towards the beginning of a crush or the beginning of a relationship, I'm so awkward and so flustered in that way," she said. "I'm always so nervous to express myself that I feel like it's a very me song in that way."
  • The song's 1990s throwback video was filmed July 28-29, 2013. "When I said 'I want it to look like this,' I said like a TLC, Fresh Prince type vibe," Grande told Billboard magazine. "I was like, 'Let's just get really silly, 90's amazing outfits, and just go out and dance around and have fun."

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