American popstar Sabrina Carpenter has revealed the thought process behind her raunchy new album Man’s Best Friend – in the hopes to make her X-rated lyrics relatable to her fans
Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘skin-loving’ tan gets axed by 20% for her new album release(Image: Getty)
Sabrina Carpenter is no stranger to backlash over her racy lyrics and performances drenched in innuendo – and now the popstar has leaned into this even more with her sexually-charged album Man’s Best Friend.
The initial wave of backlash came when the 26-year-old singer shared the album cover, which portrays her as a submissive woman, crawling on hands and knees as a male figure grabs her infamous locks. The artwork sparked a wave of backlash as many fans took to TikTok to vent about the “uncomfortable” nature of the former Disney star’s image, questioning why female popstars are pushing a hyper-sexualised narrative.
After five days of discourse, Sabrina clapped back at the fury online with couple of quick-witted posts. In response to a post on X that read “Does she have a personality outside of sex?”, the ex-Disney star wrote: “girl yes and it is goooooood.”.
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The album cover for Man’s Best Friend caused controversy when it was initially released(Image: AP)
During a recent interview with Interview Magazine, she doubled down on her response, saying: “If I’m being completely transparent, I don’t do anything anticipating what the reaction will be. I only do things that speak to me, that feel right, and make sense when you hear the music. When I came up with the imaging for it, it was so clear to me what it meant. So the reaction is fascinating to me. You just watch it unravel and go, ‘Wow’.”
Her nonchalant stance is highlighted in her lyricism, which remains tinged with seduction and allure. One standout track quickly gaining traction is My Man on Willpower, where Sabrina describes a boyfriend relying on “willpower”, specifically, the willpower to refrain from sex.
She sings: “My man on his willpower is something I don’t understand / He fell in love with self-restraint and now it’s getting out of hand / He used to be literally obsessed with me / I’m suddenly the least sought-after girl in the land.”
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The tone of the tune seems playful yet still has a sting as she paints the picture of a relationship where affection has been replaced by discipline. The second verse goes deeper as she sings: “He’s busy, he’s working, he doesn’t have time for me / My slutty pajamas not tempting him in the least.”
Sabrina admitted that her lyrics are sometimes “really bold” and not always something you “want to sing in front of other people.” However that was very much part of the appeal she hoped would charm the masses. “It’s like it’s almost TMI,” she remarked. “You can be sure that anything I do and say has a little bit of a wink to it. I mean, there’s a lot of nuance to this and I’m not naïve to that, but I felt like: Why is this taboo?”
Ultimately, she’s “glad” fans like her “sexual content” but leaves much of work and imagery up for interpretation, as with the title of her new album, Man’s Best Friend, which she says had “so many layers” but “emotionally felt like one.”
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