We Spoke To The Man Ariana Grande Samples On 'The Light Is Coming'

"You wouldn't let anybody speak, and alternatively


That's the phrase uttered upwards of 20 times in Ariana Grande's snappy new single with Nicki Minaj, "The Light is Coming." Since the glitchy dance-pop bop arrived last week, fans have been divided over the famous vocal sample, which is either really adventurous and artistic or just super irritating, depending on who you ask. Nevertheless no one is more perplexed by it than the man beyond the now-famous voice.


His name is Craig Anthony Miller, and he is a 68-year-old native of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. In 2009, he attended a town hall meeting where he had a heated confrontation with then-senator Arlen Specter over the Democratic health care proposal. The clip became an infamous CNN moment, aptly known as "town hell," and Miller became a local celebrity of sorts. Why the clip was used in "The Light is Coming" right now — almost a full decade later — is still unclear, though theories abound about Miller's voice representing repressed voices, and Grande's light-affirming message signifying hope amid the chaos.


Whether the song actually has any political undertones is fully lost on Miller, who I called last week immediately after previously identifying the sample in CNN's video archives. Right after confirming that he was the same man who confronted Sen. Specter all those years prior, our conversation got underway, and I noticed out exactly what he thinks about his "feature" on Grande's new song.


MTV: I don't know if you're aware, however your interaction with Sen. Arlen Specter has become more of a news item lately. Do you suggest why?


Miller: No, I haven't found any reporting about that.


MTV: So let me tell you what's going on. Do you suggest who Ariana Grande is?


Miller: A singer, isn't she?


MTV: is. She is a young pop star, and she released a song this week. It's called "The Light is Coming," and your voice is in her song.


Miller: My voice is in her song? Well how about that.


MTV: Yeah, so in the interaction you had with Senator Specter almost 10 years back, there's this part where you mention to him, "You wouldn't let anybody speak!" And that part, that snippet of what you mentioned, is sampled in the song. You weren't aware of that?


Miller: No!


MTV: Well, that's what has been going on, and I wanted track you down to be able to see what you thought of that.


Miller: I don't think much about it. Any time If I went to that meeting, I had called Specter's office and I knew there'd be a lot of people and I figured there was no way I was going to get to speak. Well, his people informed me, "Oh yes, everybody's going to get their chance to speak." I asked them if I'd be cut off at any certain point and so they mentioned, "No, you'll get to mention all that you should mention Well, it turned out that wasn't the case.


MTV: and you were confronting Arlen Specter about health care, right?


Miller: Yeah, it was health care — I had some stuff to mention about that.


MTV: Well, in the event you don't mind, I want to play segment of the song for and also you could hear exactly what I'm talking about.


Miller: Go ahead.


["The Light is Coming" begins playing]


MTV: It begins off like that. Is it weird to hear your voice in a pop song?


Miller: What's the name of the song?


MTV: It's called "The Light is Coming." It's Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj. Are you familiar with them?


Miller: Yeah.


MTV: Well, right now you know that you're in their song! People were attempting to find the sample — all they could hear was a man's voice saying that, and each person was like, "Who is this guy?!"


Miller: (laughing) Well, I'm just a 68-year-old man.


[Miller's partner, Karen, begins talking on speakerphone]


Karen: Is this on YouTube? I know who Ariana Grande is, I've seen her.


MTV: Yeah, it is. And it's his voice saying that one line and it's repeated while in the complete song.


Miller: I oughta ask her for some royalties!


Karen: I'm just floored that you would call tonight, right after almost 10 years. That was 2010, 2011?


MTV: It was 2009, according to CNN. I don't know how the producers of this song got that sample and how they used it. Do you have any guesses?


Miller: No, I don't.


Karen: No, this just came out of the blue!


MTV: And what's funny is that the producer of this song is a guy named Pharrell, and he released song a couple of months prior [N.E.R.D's "Lemon"] that has another sample in it from the same town hall meeting, and it's Arlen Specter's voice saying, "Wait a minute."


Karen: Oh my god. I'll have to tell my daughter this. [The song begins playing again in the background, immediately after Karen noticed it on YouTube.] Oh my god. I'm gonna tell Becky about this. She's gonna roar.


MTV: Is she a fan of Ariana Grande's?


Karen: Yes and no. I mean, she's older right now. She's in her 40s.


Miller: Is Ariana Grande a Christian?


MTV: I'm not sure, actually.


Miller: as the Light is Coming," that would be in reference to Christ's return, which is about to happen. So being involving a song that has any sort of religious overtones should make me feel better.


Karen: Craig, I think she's more like Madonna.


Miller: I mean, I'm not in the MTV crowd because I'm 68 years old.


MTV: What do you suggest of the song? I know you're listening to it right now.


Miller: It's OK. It's not something I'm going to go out and purchase or play a lot.


MTV: although your voice is on it?!


Miller: Well, that doesn't matter! (laughing) It's not going to put any cash in my pocket, I'm sure! It may have people calling me up again, I guess.


MTV: in case you can mention anything to Ariana Grande about the song, what would you tell her?


Miller: Good luck!