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\n \u201cHate That I Made You Love Me\u201d feels like a snooze compared to most of the songs that have launched her album campaigns, making it one of her worst lead singles yet. Breakup rumors have circled Ariana Grande<\/a> and her partner, Ethan Slater, since last year\u2019s Wicked: For Good<\/em> press run, when TikTok and blog theories toyed with the idea that Grande\u2019s commitment to work was pushing her lover away (despite his role as her Glinda\u2019s Tinman). The couple individually responded via public acts of encouragement: Slater attended her December Saturday Night Live<\/em> hosting gig; in a March Instagram Story, she congratulated<\/a> him on Marcel in the Night<\/em>, an Off Broadway play he co-wrote and starred in. Whether or not there was ever actually a schism, the rumor mill was confident and uninformed. Grande now appears to address it all in \u201cHate That I Made You Love Me<\/a>,\u201d the glum sigh of a lead single from her forthcoming eighth album, Petal<\/em>, and first new music as herself since Eternal Sunshine<\/em><\/a>\u2019s parade of deluxe add-ons ended in early 2025. She returns with a shrug for unnamed nuisances, and that attitude unfortunately extends to the beat and vocal delivery. This feels like a snooze compared to most of the songs that have launched her album campaigns, making it one of her worst lead singles yet (though not as bad as \u201cProblem\u201d). But it\u2019s also a (too) time-tested hit formula.<\/p>\n The song can either scan as a snapshot of an eventful couple\u2019s spat, a villain anthem like \u201cThank U Next,\u201d or a chop at parasocial observers who get bored and invent celebrity drama. The third reading is likeliest given her previous contempt in \u201cYes And?\u201d off 2024\u2019s Eternal Sunshine<\/em>, <\/em>in which she sang, \u201cWhy do you care so much whose dick I\u2019m riding?\u201d \u201cLove Me\u201d is most intriguing as a diss track for her fans in the mold of Taylor Swift\u2019s defensive 2024 song \u201cWho\u2019s Afraid of Little Old Me?\u201d In this light, Grande\u2019s bridge is captivating: \u201cI\u2019ve held your projections when you\u2019ve felt so insecure \/ Tell me, why is it this way? \/ Why you so hate to see women endure? \/ Is it really my fault you all gave me your hearts of your own accord? \/ I don\u2019t really think so.\u201d If it\u2019s directed at her audience, she\u2019s telling everyone it\u2019s their own fault they\u2019re disappointed in her about anything. And if you\u2019ve written her off as a homewrecker who broke up Slater\u2019s marriage for a showmance, the chorus lets you maintain that stance: \u201cI hate that I made you love me \/ \u2019Cause I barely tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Courtesy of Republic Records<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n