Posted March 25, 20232 yr U.K. chart run: 41-57-70-60-58-68->6 Today marks a whole decade since Ariana released the lead single from her debut album Yours Truly, 'The Way'. This was a more mature, R&B leaning direction from her following the standalone single 'Put Your Hearts Up' two years prior, that she wanted to forget ever happened. In early 2013 Ari was presented with an early demo of 'The Way' which originally featured the vocals of Jordin Sparks. The production of the song included a sample of 'Still Not a Player' by Big Pun, which in turn borrows from the 70s song 'A Little Bit of Love' by Brenda Russell. Ari immediately fell in love with it and asked rapper Mac Miller to feature on it. He also felt positive about the song and said it would be a hit. Indeed it was, becoming Ariana's first top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100. In the U.K. it frustratingly stalled at #41, but Ariana wouldn't have to wait too long for her fortunes to turn around here. The playful music video features Ari, Mac and a group of dancers throughout. She poses for pictures taken by Mac and the two even share a kiss at the end, a foreshadowing of their relationship a few years down the line. This video currently has over 450 million views on YouTube. _sV0S8qWSy0 How do you feel about 'The Way' 10 years on?
March 25, 20232 yr Author I've only just realised that the still of the music video matches the artwork! Crazy that it's been a whole decade since this was released :drama: I remember so vividly studying for my GCSEs at the time. Two of my best friends at school had watched Victorious, so were quite excited for this hyped single from Ariana, whereas I didn't really know who she was. We all watched the video together which had premiered on VEVO and I liked the song immediately! I downloaded it from iTunes and spammed it on my pink iPod Nano, good times. I can clearly remember following the iTunes thread on BuzzJack that week as well, had a look back through my posts on here and I didn't actually post about it, so must have been a silent observer. That #41 peak was a shame! 10 years on and I still think it's solid, definitely a much better proper launch than 'Put Your Hearts Up', but of course she'd better it several times! RIP Mac :heart: this year will already mark 5 years since he passed away :(
March 25, 20232 yr She's released so many better tracks since but I'll always have a special place for 'The Way'. It was the track that got me into Ariana too. I'm just going to pretend that it wasn't 10 years ago though :(
March 25, 20232 yr Author I'm just going to pretend that it wasn't 10 years ago though :( It really is wild how quickly time has passed! :drama: even the impending 5 year anniversaries seem scary, like 'thank u, next' (song) later this year :lol: ~~~ A snapshot of U.S. iTunes at the time: @1639649451303215104 + Ariana acknowledged the anniversary on her instagram stories: @1639668438569287680
