Ariana Grande recently released her newest album “Sweetener”, throwing her into the spotlight on social media. Since then, she has hinted multiple times through her Twitter about another upcoming album release coming soon. To ‘tease’ this new album, Grande released the song “thank u, next”.
This track delves into detail about Grande’s past relationships, especially after her recent engagement to Pete Davidson was recently broken off. It even starts off with the lyrics “Thought I’d end up with Sean / But he wasn’t a match / Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh / Even almost got married / And for Pete, I’m so thankful / Wish I could say, “Thank you” to Malcolm / ‘Cause he was an angel.”
In this section of the song, Grande addresses Miller Malcolm, known as Mac Miller. Grande and Miller had dated for around two years before breaking up. Miller had recently passed away shortly after their breakup due to accidental overdose. Grande offered comfort to many fans who supported both the artists and showcases a part of her vulnerabilities through this song by discussing such sensitive topics.
Later in the song, Grande reveals the true purpose behind these lyrics and tells the audience how they’ve all taught her valuable lessons that have helped her learn. She begins to make revelations about how she doesn’t need to be in a relationship to be happy and how she’s grown from her experiences.
Various artists are expressing love to Grande’s newest release, such as Justin Bieber who tweeted saying the song is his new “favorite song.” People seem to be enjoying the hit, seeing as it reached number 2 on the US ITunes charts and various communities on social media are addressing the issue of self-love once again.