Ariana Grande Asked Madonna to Collaborate via Text

Apparently, when pop stars want to collaborate on a showstopping new track, they hammer out all the details the exact same way the rest of us organize brunch plans. In her upcoming BBC special, Ariana Grande tells host Davina McCall that she secured Madonna‘s booming voice for her “God Is a Woman” video within minutes, via her iPhone. “I texted her, which is so cool. I can text Madonna!” Grande told McCall, according to People, when asked how the collaboration came together. “Within a couple of minutes, she replied. She was like, ‘Send me everything!'”

This shockingly casual exchange, of course, begs a mountain of questions, like how, exactly, Grande came to have Madonna’s number in her phone, whether Madge prefers utilizing the GIF keyboard or regular old emojis to add emphasis to her missives, and what the pop icons have texted about since. Here’s hoping all these and more will be answered when the full BBC special—which also reportedly includes Grande performing songs from her new album, Sweetener, backed by an all-female orchestra—airs on November 1.

The “God Is a Woman” cameo in question has Madonna reciting a slightly altered version of the Bible verse famously quoted by Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Pulp Fiction. “I will strike down upon thee, with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my sisters, and you will know my name is the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon you,” she says as Grande, wielding an oversize gavel and sporting a cat-eared helmet, lip-synchs along.

Shortly after debuting the video over the summer, Grande spoke to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show about why she had to have Madonna’s voice for the powerful role. “Without Madonna, I wouldn’t be able to make a song like that. She paved the way for all of us and has been here fighting that fight way longer than any of us,” she said, recalling how she’d worded her proposition. “‘There’s a little part in the video that would be perfect for you if you would, like, even consider doing it.’ I was like, ‘I hate myself for even asking you for any favors, but you’ll see why it’s fitting—here you go,'” Grande told Fallon. “And she was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ll do it. I’ll get into the studio tomorrow. I’m in Portugal, so it’s a weird time right now, but I’ll jump in!'”

Related: A Visual Celebration of Ariana Grande’s Signature Ponytail Going From Side to Side