Selena Gomez's body of work speaks for itself.
The 23-year-old "Good for You" singer appeared on The Cruz Show on Power 106 Los Angeles Friday, where she discussed the "emotional" process of making her new album, Revival, available Oct. 9. "The last two years, honestly, everybody's had a say in my life," she said. "Nobody knows...It kind of just got out of hand."
In addition to signing with a new record label, Gomez worked with new a new team of producers to make Revival. "I really trusted people and they heard me. They were really understanding that I was fed up with everything. I was crying in the studio. Then I was happy in the studio. I recorded the best songs of my career in the studio. It was such a time for me to explore who I am," she said. "That was really important. I think that's why we called it Revival. It's the first song on the album."
The host asked, "Do you ever smoke to take the edge off?"
Gomez laughed. "I mean, I've smoked cigarettes," she said, "but that's basically all."
Recording Revival was "almost like therapy," she added. "It was so exhausting."
The former Disney Channel star posed shirtless for the album cover and was surprised by the backlash she received for doing so. "That kind of was interesting," she said, noting that she did a similar topless photo shoot for V earlier this year.
"At the end of the day, this is not going to be a subject once the album comes out. The music is going to take over because that's how confident I am about it. You have to understand that I dealt with a lot of body shaming this year and I've never experienced that before. I don't care about that stuff, but I did start gaining weight, and I didn't really mind it...Man, that hurt. That was really hurtful. Because I've experienced people who have tried to control that kind of stuff before, and I didn't care. This is my time. I want to do it the way I want to do it," Gomez said, adding, "It looks like a Linda Ronstadt photo. It's a '70s photo. I'm wearing high-waisted shorts that are obviously cut off. It's beautiful. I'm proud of that."
"It's not even about my weight. It's just that I'm not going to give a f--k what people say—sorry!" Gomez continued, momentarily forgetting that she was live on the air. "I'm not going to let them get to me. I can do what I want. I'm not doing that all the time. It's beautiful. It represents that it's bare. I don't want diamonds and things all over me for the cover, and really thick makeup. I wanted it natural, so...geez!"
That said, Gomez wanted people to know the cover was "Photoshopped, for sure!"