Ariana Grande fans are going above and beyond to boycott her latest single "7 Rings." Oddly enough, the Grammy-winning pop songstress is seemingly saying thank you, next to the hit track alongside her loyal devotees.
"7 Rings" is the second single from Grande's fifth studio album Thank U, Next. After the trap-inspired track bowed on January 18, it debuted in the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Fans have since backed a hashtag, dubbed #Boycott7Rings, via Twitter. However, their reasoning behind the boycott actually stems from a very admirable place.
"Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" was unveiled as the third single from Thank U, Next when the album dropped on February 8. The track has begun to climb its way up the charts, but its top competitor is Grande's "7 Rings." Therefore, fans have launched a boycott against the single to ensure that "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" will become her third number one hit behind "7 Rings" and her first number one single "Thank U, Next."
Grande has responded to fans' tweets about #Boycott7Rings, which she seemingly has approved of. "Y'all are so insane and funny and I love u. Nothings funnier than 'boycott seven rings,'" she tweeted Wednesday. "I can't lmao. Whatever's meant to be will be, babies I ain't goin nowhere #thankunext."
Grande responded "r u ok" to a fan who requested she "tweet #BOYCOTT7RINGS to show your solidarity." She claimed her fans were "sick," likely in the vein of the slang version that means "cool" or "awesome," after one fan tweeted about how they couldn't "believe we are boycotting 1 of Ariana's songs so the other can debut at #1." She also suggested "this is a wild time for" Arianators but advised fans to "do ur thing."
A boycott over "7 Rings" is a win-win scenario for Grande. If fans succeed in getting "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" to top her hip-hop-influenced second single, Grande would become the first solo artist ever to earn three number one singles. According to a January report from Billboard, only 33 singles have debuted in the number slot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Grande joins Britney Spears, Drake and Mariah Carey as artists who have all scored two number one singles.
Grande spoke about the making of Thank U, Next during an interview with the Zach Sang Show on February 9. She said the record, which is predicted to score 330,000 units in its debut week, "saved" her.
"I made it with my best friends over the course of a really small period of time, and it kind of saved my life," Grande said. "It was kind of this super challenging chapter that sucked, and then my friends made it amazing and special."
"It turned everything around in my life. It sounds really corny, but it was the most beautiful. I don't think life has ever been as bad as it was when [we started]," she started.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more
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