Daily Times

If you’ve been daydreamin’ about a new Ariana Grande single, today is your lucky day. The “Thank You, Next” singer just dropped her first single since Oct. 2020-and it was worth the wait. Not only is “yes, and?” a certifiable bop, but it also seems to be Ariana declaring she is going to keep living life just as she sees fit, no matter what the haters say.

“In case you haven’t noticed / well, everybody’s tired / and healing from somebody,” she sings in the first verse, “boy come on put your lipstick on / come on and walk this way through the fire.”

Which leads right into the chorus, during which Ariana asks the song’s titular question: “”yes, and?’ / say that s–t with your chest / and be your own f–in’ best friend.”

It’s a sentiment she carries throughout the song, with later verses like, “now i’m so done with caring what you think / no i won’t hide underneath your own projections or change my most authentic life” and “my tongue is sacred / i speak upon what i like / don’t comment on my body, do not reply / your business is yours and mine is mine do you care so much whose – i ride.”

“yes, and?” comes after a year that saw a lot of scrutiny from the public over Ariana’s personal life, from concerns about her appearance to comments about her romantic relationships-in 2023 the 30-year-old divorced husband Dalton Gomez and began dating her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.

The song puts to music a lot of the feelings Ariana seemed to express during a year-end reflection she shared to social media.

“One of the most transformative, most challenging and yet happiest and most special years of my life,” she began a Dec. 29 message, posted to her Instagram Story. “There were so many beautiful yet polarized feelings. I’ve never felt more at the mercy of and in acceptance of what life was screaming to teach me. I’ve never felt more fulfilled by or present in my work, being able to cherish every moment.” And after reflecting on the many projects she had the chance to work on, she also made note of the outside noise.

As she put it, “I’ve never felt more pride or joy or love while simultaneously feeling so deeply misunderstood by people who don’t know me, who piece whispers together and make what they want out of me and their assumptions of my life.”

“I have learned how much more important one of those things is than the other,” she added. “I have never felt more tightly held or fiercely protected by those who love and understand me