It’s been more than three years since Ariana Grande last released a solo music video, and the drought is finally coming to an end. In an Instagram post Thursday (Jan. 11), Grande teased the imminent music video for her forthcoming comeback single, “Yes, And?” — and she’s addressing some of the viral headlines that have hounded her over the past few years.
The teaser opens with a hand holding a red card with the acronym “AG7” — the nickname of Grande’s as-yet-untitled seventh studio album — and the coordinates 41.0359° N – 71.9545° W. The coordinates lead to Montauk, N.Y., the filming location for the Jim Carrey-starring Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a possible easter egg for what the AG7 era may bring, considering Grande’s well-documented love for Carey. The other side of the card reads: “Your presence has been exclusively requested.”
The clip then shifts to different shots of “critics” entering what appears to be an office building. “Yeah, real exclusive. Typical Ari,” deadpans one critic as she waits in an elevator. “You know, I think I liked her better when her ponytail was a few centimeters higher,” another critic replies. Yet another then chimes in, “And, I mean, who cares if she’s happy? I don’t want happy. I want Ari.”
As the critics file out of the elevator — at this point, it is 11:55 a.m., according to the on-screen text — the scene cuts to two new critics conversing in a hallway. “I miss the old Ari, you know, the singer,” bemoans one lady, while an older man replies, “You don’t say. I heard she’s starting an artisanal hummus line next,” a cheeky nod to impatient fans who were frustrated with Grande’s focus on her acting career and R.E.M. Beauty makeup line during her hiatus from music.
Near the end of the teaser, two more critics are introduced, with the first exclaiming, “Oh my God! Did she really do that?” In response, another critic says, “Well, I read it on the Internet, so it must be true!” The teaser closes with a shot of a clock striking 12:00 before cutting to a black screen that reveals the music video’s official release date: Friday, Jan. 12, at 7 a.m. PT — the same day the song officially hits DSPs. In the post, Grande tagged video director Christian Breslauer, the MTV Video Music Award-nominated mind behind such clips as Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby” and SZA’s “Kill Bill.”
On Monday (Jan. 8), Grande shared that although “Yes, And” is not the title for her forthcoming album, the single’s artwork will be double as one of the album cover variants. She first confirmed new music at the tail end of last year with a Dec. 27 Instagram post, and officially started teasing the new single on Jan. 4 with sweatshirt bearing the track’s title — a callback to her announcement for Sweetener lead single “No Tears Left to Cry” back in 2018.
Since her hiatus, Grande has add two more Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers to her tally, both of which were collaborations with The Weeknd: “Save Your Tears” and “Die for You,” which ranked at No. 7 on the 2023 Year-End Hot 100 ranking. The multi-hyphenate has been focusing on filming Wicked, in which she is set to star as Glinda the Good Witch alongside Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Bowen Yang, Ethan Slater and more. Wicked — the first of two movie musicals — is slated to hit theaters Nov. 27, 2024.
Check out the “Yes, And?” music video teaser below: