Entertainment
Ariana Grande dropped her album Thank U, Next on Feb. 8 and released the music video for her new single, "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored," sending fans into all all out twitter frenzy. Many listeners are theorizing that this song is about one of her famous exes, and so it's only right that they're on a desperate search for any and all Big Sean references on Thank U, Next. With this being her second album in just six months, and the music video for the title track breaking records, there's plenty to focus on other than Grande's exes. Yet, since she directly called out Big Sean in "Thank U, Next" — both the song and the video — it's possible she could be singing about him on "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored." And it's worth investigating the other tracks on the album for allusions to him.
Even before "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" was released, fans thought it could be about Big Sean. And while not everyone is totally convinced it's about her rapper ex, whom she collaborated with and dated from 2014 to 2015, others believe the song is referring to Big Sean's relationship with rumored ex Jhené Aiko. (Or, even how Grande and Sean may have started their connection before his official split from Naya Rivera.) Still, this fan theory is debatable, and no matter what, the amount of shoutouts to Big Sean on Thank U, Next seem to be far less than the ones about Grande's other exes — former fiancé Pete Davidson and Mac Miller, who died in September of 2018.
Grande created Thank U, Next following the death of Miller and her breakup from Davidson, so it makes sense that Sean wouldn't have a huge presence on the album. That said, if you're a fan who hopes Grande and Sean will romantically reunite, or just feel certain that "Break Up with Your Girlfriend" is about Big Sean, here are some other possible references to him.
"Look At The Cards That We've Been Dealt"
In "ghostin," Grande sings, "Look at the cards that we've been dealt." Grande has made references to cards in other songs, but notably she sang, "Playing with the hand that we were dealt in this game" in 2014's "Best Mistake," featuring none other than Big Sean.
"In My Head"
Grande might be singing about Miller in this track, since she uses the word "angel," which she has used to describe him in other songs and social media. But is it just a coincidence that Grande has a song called "In My Head" while Big Sean released "Voices in My Head/Stick To the Plan" in 2017?
"Thought I'd End Up With Sean, But He Wasn't A Match"
Grande kicks off "Thank U, Next" by mentioning Big Sean. But did he teach her love, patience, or pain? Considering her flirty message to him in the video — his Burn Book page says "could still get it" — it's probably not pain.
"Break Up With Your Girlfriend, Yeah, Yeah, 'Cause I'm Bored"
Even before hearing any of the lyrics, fans were talking about how "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" (or, "BUWYG, IB") was about Big Sean and the release of the song only solidified some people's beliefs.
"You Could Hit It In The Mornin'"
In the "Thank U, Next" music video, Grande wrote in her Burn Book about Sean, "So cute, so sweet" and "Could still get it." So is she referring to him again when she sings, "You can hit it in the morning," in "BUWYG, IB"? That's for her to know, and fans to theorize about!
Grande tweeted in January that she's not dating anyone and Big Sean's romantic life is currently pretty under wraps. So who knows if this former pair is actually still interested in one another. But no matter what, the Big Sean references in Thank U, Next prove that these exes are on good terms.
