Photo courtesy of Republic Records

From having bright red hair during her time as a Nickelodeon star to making her musical breakthrough, we have seen many sides of Ariana Grande. The artist’s life has taken many turns, from tragically losing a great love to online backlashes based on her appearance and physical changes. 

Grande’s newest single — “yes, and?” — is three and a half minutes long and manages to call out her haters, comment on their shaming and reference her late boyfriend and artist, Mac Miller. She expresses disappointment with how the public reacts to her private life and their relentlessness.

The intro is a unique 48 seconds that is different from her other songs. Her lyrics begin with “Everybody’s tired / And healin’ from somebody.” 

This intro is made more unique when remembering Grande’s past years, where she has had to heal from Miller, the suicide bombing at her Manchester Arena concert that killed 22 people, her recent divorce, disrespectful comments about her appearance and more.

Following, she makes a clever lyrical choice that is suspected to be a Miller reference. She sings, “Say that shit with your chest,” and repeats it throughout her song. Miller’s2018 song “Jet Fuel” features him saying the same line. 

Her track reminds me of a saucy version of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” and I am here for it. 

It is a fun tune to dance to in the car, a perfect hyping-up type of jam. It is a different kind of sound from her and perfect for her message to the public. 

The lyrics later continue, “And if you find yourself / in a dark situation / just turn on your light / and be like / yes, and?” 

This is her “shake it off” statement. The “yes, and?” clapback to shoot down room for commentary in a woman boss, “I don’t care what you have to say” type of way. 

The phrase, like in improvisational acting, invites more interpretation, that there is more to a story and, in the end, that someone can still disagree, but there is more than that potential negative. 

She echoes “Your business is yours and mine is mine,” saying to mind your own business while still having the voice of an angel.

During her recent hiatus, the actor turned singer returned behind the camera where she began filming for her movie “Wicked Part 1.” The film is an alternative version of “The Wonderful Wizard of OZ.” Its release to theaters is planned for November 2024.

Previously this year, Grande was married to Dalton Gomez. The two officially divorced in October 2023. Shortly after, she was seen with Spongebob voice actor, Ethan Slater. The actor is additionally a coworker with her in the new film.

The history Slater has — being that he had a wife and a child on the way before Grande — created backlash for mostly Grande rather than Slater himself. People speculate that there was infidelity involved in her and Slater’s relationship. Both Grande and Slater denied infidelity rumors with the support of their close contacts, also saying that their relationship began after they were both “single.”

Either way, Grande’s platform was getting social media canceled and she was deemed not a “girl’s girl.”

“Your business is yours and mine is mine / why do you care so much whose dick I ride? / Why?” Her questions to her audience rings in their headphones or speakers and forces them to look in the mirror. Why act the way you act? Why even care what this celebrity does?

The song wrapped with a Grande bow (remember the ones she wore during the original bow phase in the Tumblr era?), an expression of how she felt and a perfect bop for fans.

Recently revealed via her Instagram, Grande is finishing up her seventh studio album on March 8. The album will be called “Eternal Sunshine.” It is a reference to the film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”

Some fans believe this album will be about her recent relationship withSlater because of these ties and the additional matching initials of his name and the album title. Others suspect the album has more references of Miller in the tracks because this is famously one of his favorite movies. 

Her new album is set to release this year on March 8, as revealed via an Instagram carousel. Her brother, Frankie, comments “It’s official. 2024 is my favorite year of all time.” Mine too, Frankie.