The Way (Ariana Grande song): Difference between revisions

"The Way" is a song recorded by American singer Ariana Grande for her debut studio album, Yours Truly (2013). It was written by the song's producer Harmony Samuels, alongside Amber Streeter, Al Sherrod Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Priscilla Ahn, Brenda Russell, and Mac Miller, who is featured in the song. "The Way" was released on March 26, 2013 by Republic Records as the lead single from Yours Truly. The song interpolates the piano melody from Russell's "A Little Bit of Love" and lyrics from Big Pun's "Still Not a Player".

"The Way" became a success from the moment it was released. It was well received by critics, with some comparing Grande's vocals to those of Mariah Carey. Seven hours after its release on the iTunes Store, "The Way" topped its "Top Singles" chart. It debuted at number ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande and Miller's first top ten success on the chart. This made Ariana the first top 10 arrival for a lead female artist making her first Hot 100 appearance since Yael Naim, who launched with "New Soul" back in 2008.

On December 12, 2011, Ariana Grande released her debut single "Put Your Hearts Up," a bubblegum pop song with a vastly different style of music and target demographic than "The Way." ^[1] Whereas the lyrics in "The Way" deal with the subject of a flirty, romantic relationship, some sections with sexual implications, "Put Your Hearts Up" was a song aimed at young audiences, with lyrics about making the world a better place. During a radio interview on KIIS-FM on March 25, 2013, Grande confessed that she had in fact "hated" both the music video for "Put Your Hearts Up" and the song itself, considering it to be "a terrible first impression."^[2] She added that she had wanted to "pretend it never happened before it already happened" and that she had felt no enthusiasm to promote the song at the time.^{[citation needed]}

In subsequent interviews, Grande implied that in order to feel "passionate" about her music, it needed to relate to her maturing personality. In an interview with Billboard she said, "When I do 'Sam & Cat,' and when I act as Cat, of course I'm still going to be there for my younger fans. But I'm also growing up – I'm almost 20. I'm not going to do anything crazy, but I want to do music that I'm passionate about. I'm finally at an age where I can do the music that I grew up loving, which was urban pop, 90s music. I grew up listening to the divas, so I'm very happy to finally do urban pop. I hope that it's received well, and it has been so far." ^[3] The music video for "Put Your Hearts Up" was taken down from Grande's official Vevo channel after "The Way" was released.^{[citation needed]}

"The Way" can be seen as the reboot of Grande's singing career, steering her toward an older demographic and a different musical genre than where she originally began. In January 2013, she met with producer Harmony Samuels, at which point he presented her with the beat he'd created for the single, which samples Brenda Russell's "A Little Bit of Love and Big Pun's "Still Not a Player". Grande immediately connected with the sound and asked Mac Miller to feature on the song with her, to which he responded, "Sounds like a hit to me." ^[4] The song was recorded that same month, and caught the attention of Republic Records VP Charlie Walk when he heard it being played from Republic co-founder Monte Lipman's office. "It was 8:00 one night, and I heard a song coming from Monte's office through my wall. He called me down and I played a video, a DIY of Ariana Grande. We heard the song and I immediately made the decision to set it up [and] put the song out." ^[5]

Grande created online buzz in the weeks leading up to her single's release by using social media. She first tweeted about "The Way" on March 5, 2013, stating that the song would be released later that month.^[6] On March 13, she announced the release date.^[7] She posted a teaser trailer for both the song and the music video on her Youtube page on March 16^[8] and then shared a second teaser on March 21.^[9]

In the later half of March, Grande went on a radio tour across the United States, focusing on some of the most popular Top 40 stations in the country. She visited both Y-100 Miami^[10] and 93.3 FM^[11] on March 18 for interviews. The next day she went on Elvis Duran and the Morning Show^[12][13] and attended a release party thrown by Z100, where she spoke to fans about her music.^[14] On March 25, she visited KIIS-FM for an interview with JoJo Wright.^[15] She visited 99-7 Now on March 29.^[16] "The Way" debuted on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on March 25, 2013.^[17]

The song has received positive reviews, with critics comparing Grande's vocals to those of Mariah Carey. Digital spy gave the song a five out of five star rating comparing the song's sound and Ariana's vocals to Mariah Carey, continuing to say Ariana has a "powerful vocal" whilst the song has "bouncy piano riff" and "throwback R&B beats".^[18] Sam Lansky of Idolator gave the song a positive review, calling the vocals "sweet, soulful, and grown-up".^[19] MTV Buzzworthy's Jenna Hally Rubenstein praised the song, advising readers to "keep one eye on Ariana" as "she may very well be the hottest pop newcomer in the game." Rubenstein also commented that the song's "early '00s-influenced R&B vibes" made it sound like an updated version of Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" featuring Ja Rule.^[20] Nick Catucci of Rolling Stone magazine gave the song a 3 and half stars, saying that Grande is "is more flirty than freaky, but her Mariah-esque vocals verge on ecstatic."^[21] In a mixed review, Diva Devotee stated that the song was catchy and that Ariana's vocals "are both very light and airy but also full and resonant, with some instances of whistle register at the songs climax," ^[22]

"The Way" sold over 120,000 units in the first 48 hours.^[23][24] Having sold over 219,000 units in its opening week, "The Way" holds the third best-selling first-week sales figure of 2013 behind Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie" and One Direction's "Best Song Ever".^[25] "The Way" debuted at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week ending in April 5, 2013, becoming Ariana's and Miller's first Hot 100 top 10 hit. This makes Ariana the first top ten arrival for a lead female artist making her first Hot 100 appearance since Yael Naim, who launched with "New Soul" back in 2008. The song dropped to #22 during its second week on the chart, and then to #37. As radio stations gave it more attention, the song gradually rebounded, eventually peaking at #9 for two weeks.^[26] The song reached 500,000 sold units on May 1, 2013^[27] and received its official Gold certification from the RIAA on May 6, 2013. "The Way" surpassed one million downloads on June 10, 2013 and was officially certified Platinum by the RIAA on June 19, 2013.^[28] The song has thus far sold 2 million copies in the United States. "The Way" spent 26 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, all but two, being within the Top 40. The Spanglish version of "The Way" reached #5 on Billboard's Latin Pop Songs chart on the week ending August 24, 2013.^[29]

The official remix features the American rapper Fabolous. It was released online on July 11, 2013.^[30]

The music video for "The Way" was filmed on February 10 and 11, 2013. On March 16, 2013, the first teaser for the song was released on to her Youtube page.^[31][32][33] The second teaser was released on Ryan Seacrest's website two days later, and later on Grande's page.^[34] The full video was released on March 28, 2013 at 12/3 am PST/EST. The video consists of Grande, Miller, and a group of dancers. Grande poses for pictures taken by Miller on various cameras, while dancing around a room filled with balloons and their image being projected on the wall. At the end of the video Miller and Grande kiss, and Grande explains it as "quite a statement" of growing up.^[35] The video becoming VEVO certified, meaning it reached 100 million views on October 2, 2013.

Grande performed "The Way" at several Top 40 radio concerts, including KIIS-FM's Wango Tango concert on May 11, 2013 in Los Angeles,^[36] 101.3 KDWB's Star Party concert on May 17, 2013 in Minneapolis,^[37] Kiss 108's Kiss Concert 2013 event in Boston,^[38] 103.3 AMP Radio's Birthday Bash concert on June 30, 2013 also in Boston,^[39] and Mix 93.3's Red White & Boom concert on July 5, 2013 in Kansas City.^[40][41] She was scheduled to perform the song at B96's Summer Bash concert on June 15, 2013 in Chicago, but had to cancel due to being sick.^[42][43]

Her first televised performance of the song was aired on May 29, 2013 on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.^[44] Her second televised performance aired on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on June 14, 2013.^[45]

Ariana Grande was the opening act for the last three US dates of Justin Bieber's Believe Tour, during which she performed "The Way". The performances took place in Jacksonville, Tampa, and Atlanta on August 7, August 8, and August 10 respectively.^[46]

Along with her second single, "Baby I", Grande performed "The Way" at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards' Preshow on August 25th, 2013. Ariana performed "The Way" with Mac Miller on the Today Show on September 3rd, 2013 to celebrate the release of her album, Yours Truly, and to promote it.

• Digital download

1. "The Way" featuring Mac Miller – 3:46

• Digital download (Spanglish Version)

1. "The Way" (Spanglish Version) featuring J Balvin J Balvin – 3:46

• CD single

1. "The Way" featuring Mac Miller – 3:48
2. "The Way" – 3:10

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