By Staff Writer (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Sep 16, 2014 05:45 AM EDT

Ariana Grande is riding high on the success of her sophomore album "My Everything," which debuted at the number one spot when it was released last month. The feat earned her a citation in the record books as she is the first female artist in years to have two successive albums debuting at the top spot.

How did she get to this point? The 21-year-old songstress recently revealed in an interview with Marie Claire that she had to sex up her image to further her career in music.

Ari got her start when she was introduced to the adoring public as an actress, first on Nickelodeon's "Victorious" and, later, "Sam & Cat." She played a "ditzy, will-o'-the-wisp character" that earned her millions of "teenybopper" fans in her teens.

So when she released her first single, "Put Your Hearts Up," the move did not earn her the success she desired, prompting her to take certain measures.

"I was like, 'Guys, there has to be a really distinct difference between me and my character.' And we did that with 'The Way,'" MTV quoted her as saying. "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."

The rapper in question, of course, is Mac Miller, whom she collaborated with for the track "The Way." The song, which was the first single off Ariana's first album "Yours Truly," went on to sell more than 2 million copies. Apparently, the "Problem" singer's strategy worked, and it had even sparked talk about whether she and Mac Miller were an item.

"She's got a boyfriend and everything," the rapper rebutted in an interview with MTV last year. "Obviously, that [kiss] made everyone talk. I didn't even know that was going to happen and then we were shooting and the director was like 'This should happen' and I'm like 'Alright.'"

In the Marie Claire interview, Ariana shared that she was ready to make an R&B album years before she actually did.

"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,'" she revealed, she told Us Weekly. "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.'"

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