Ariana Grande has entered directly at number 1 on Spotify overall with ‘hate that I made you love me’, her new single apparently aimed at the most toxic section of her fans: “Am I to blame for the fact that you gave me your heart? I don’t think so,” she sings in one verse.
With 8.78 million views on its first day, ‘hate that I made you love me’ starts with a figure lower than that of ‘yes, and?’, which scored 11.2 million, but higher than that of ‘positions’, which registered 7.6 million. In any case, we must take into account the increase in subscribers on the platform during the last five years: ‘thank u, next’ reached 6.1 million on its first day and was considered the best debut of his career and a phenomenon.
While waiting to discover the longevity of ‘hate that I made you love me’, once the hype that so influences listeners on the first day has passed, no other Grande single has divided fans, the public and also the media so much. Media outlets such as the Daily Mail have categorically titled that fans “hate” the song and have collected negative reactions, attempting to construct a backlash narrative that ignores the flow of positive or, at the very least, ambivalent opinions. Vulture, for its part, has declared the single “one of the worst” of his career.
Grande, it is not known whether ignoring the criticism or reacting to it, has shared a succession of positive reactions to the song from fans, tiktokers and influencers, some visibly overreacted, perhaps to counteract the supposed barrage of negative criticism, which for the moment contrasts with the initial numbers, at least in regards to the curiosity that the topic has generated.
For what it’s worth, the initial assessment of JENESAISPOP readers in the survey is clearly divided between “I loved it, another success” (46%, 189 votes), “It’s OK!” (39%, 159 votes) and “I didn’t like it, disappointment” (16%, 64 votes), suggesting a mostly positive reception, although quite divided, with a slight inclination towards favorable opinions. We invite you to comment on the topic in Ariana Grande’s forum at JENESAISPOP.
