Ariana Grande has been working hard to make sure her sophomore album, Problem, can match the resounding success of her debut — maybe a little too hard.
Matching her first album won’t be an easy feat. Yours Truly started at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in September, making Grande just the 15th female solo artist to take her first full-length to a No. 1 debut.
Ariana Grande said she celebrated the achievement for about an hour, then went right back to work on her second album
“I’m a workaholic, and a perfectionist,” Grande told Billboard in a recent interview. “It was a very exciting thing for me to all of a sudden have this new mission, to make something as special as Yours Truly , and to put my time and effort into something new and something I want to make just as good, if not better.”
The hard work has paid off. Ariana Grande recently released the first single, “Problem,” and has already hit the top of the charts . Strangely enough, Grande had initially decided against including the song on the album, but after playing it for label executives, she realized it had the potential to be a big hit.
Grande said the song, which tells of a failed relationship , is based on real life.
“‘Problem’ truly represents the feeling of being absolutely terrified to re-approach a relationship that’s gone sour — but you want to more than anything,” she said. “In the song, it ends on a sappy, negative note, but in [real] life, we’re hoping it’s going to end on a positive one. I feel like it’s all very honest and human.”
Maybe this time, Ariana Grande can take more than a few minutes to enjoy her success before she gets started on album No. 3.