Ariana Grande has released empowering songs before, but her latest may be the best one yet.
The 25-year-old singer quickly released her newest song “thank u, next” on Saturday night, 30 minutes before Saturday Night Live aired.
The timing seemed oddly combative due to Grande’s recent split with ex-fiancé Pete Davidson, one of the cast members on SNL. Davidson had also just released a promotion video for this week’s SNL installment, falsely proposing to musical guest Maggie Rogers.
It made perfect sense that Grande would release the song at such convenient timing. At first people were blowing up about this release calling her a “petty queen” and praising her for taking Davidson down. However, when people listened to her song, they realized it was exactly the opposite.
Instead of bashing Davidson for his jab at her in the promotion video, she says, “Even almost got married, and to Pete I’m so thankful.” The song explicitly mentions all of Grande’s prominent exes, including Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez, Davidson and Mac Miller, who died recently. She thanks each one of them for the lessons they taught her and for helping her to find who she truly is.
Though she is grateful for what she learned from each relationship, she is ready to move on, saying “thank u, next.”
Grande was very smart for releasing the song when she did. It was her way of telling Davidson that she didn’t want to fight; she wasn’t going to engage in drama and she was grateful for her time with him. Sometimes relationships just don’t work out, and there’s nothing more to it. Instead of being combative, Grande handled the situation with grace and a grateful heart. The release time was just a great marketing strategy to interest people in the drama; but in three minutes and 27 seconds, she was able to shut down all of the gossip regarding Davidson, allowing the fans and herself to move forward.
Davidson responded on last night’s episode of SNL wishing Grande all the happiness in the world and complimenting her on her strong personality.
Here’s how people reacted on Twitter:
“thank u, next” is available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify and other music streaming platforms.
