Celebrity
Ariana Grande’s Advice To Her Yours Truly Self Is Relatable
The singer opened up during a social media Q&A.
It’s a big moment for Ariana Grande. The singer is celebrating 10 years of Yours Truly, and she’s pulling out all the stops. Amid the weeklong celebration in honor of her first studio album’s anniversary, she promised to deliver two fan Q&As.
Grande posted the first on TikTok on Saturday, Aug. 26, and she responded to six submissions from fans — five questions and one comment. Her longest, most in-depth answer came when a fan asked her to give advice to her Yours Truly self through the lens of her older, wiser Positions self. The full question from @arianagrandebr was: “Which advice would ari from the ‘positions’ era give to ari from the ‘yours truly’ era?”
After reacting with both “Cute!” and “Ooh,” Grande jumped into it. She said she’d want Yours Truly Ari, who was 18 when she started recording the album and 20 when it came out, to know to “stay present and don’t be afraid to say no when you are running on empty and they are sending you around.”
“Don’t be afraid to say no when you need rest, when you need time; you know, there’s a kind way to say, ‘I’m tired,’” she added. “I would say that to Yours Truly Ari. And My Everything Ari, holy f*ck.”
Grande then took the question even further by sharing the advice she’d want her younger self to give to her older self who released Positions in 2020. “I would want Yours Truly Ari to say to Positions Ari, ‘Don’t let go of me,’” she said, before adding, “‘Don’t let them make you apologetic or want to shrink yourself. You know what you’re doing, and don’t listen to anybody who you don’t trust or respect or know, who doesn’t love you.’”
Her fans loved the relatable message, and the Q&A in general. Many took to her comments section to let her know how proud of her and her career they are. “We are all so proud of you angel bby,” one wrote.
As Grande’s career has progressed, she’s been able to evolve how she does things. Speaking to Billboard in late 2018, she reflected on how she generally followed the same formula as other pop stars when she released music, until she reached a point where she decided to do it on her terms. “I don’t want to do what people tell me to do, I don’t want to conform to the pop star agenda,” she said. “I want to do it on my own terms from now on.”
Sure enough, Grande surprised fans by announcing her 10-year anniversary celebration and the Aug. 25 deluxe digital release of Yours Truly just days before it, on Aug. 19. In doing so, she’s given us the perfect opportunity to celebrate her music, plus the lessons she’s learned and shared along the way.
