Ariana Grande, who scored a top 10 hit last year with “The Way,” featuring Mac Miller, has found another very valuable duet partner. “Problem,” featuring Iggy Azalea, is off to such a fast start, it could launch in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 next week. Sources tell Billboard it could sell up to 300,000 downloads in its opening frame.
Grande bowed the song at the Radio Disney Music Awards on Saturday (26), without Azalea, but with some of the visuals from the pair”s black & white lyric video, which debuted today.
The song features Grande singing about how she”ll have one less problem when she lets her boyfriend go, features a squonky horn line, redolent of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis”s “Thrift Shop,” and a sassy rap by Azalea.
“I thought we would make the perfect girl-power duo for 'Problem', so I'm very grateful that she did it with me,” Grande told Rolling Stone. “I love meeting people I admire and discovering that they're really chill human beings and nothing's gone to their head.” Azalea celebrates her first top 10 hit this week as “Fancy” rises into the Billboard Hot 100.
“Problem,” which plays off of Jay Z”s “99 Problems,” is the first single from Grande”s forthcoming second studio album. Her first album, “Yours Truly,” bowed at No. 1 last September.
Vevo is having trouble with the video right now, so as soon as we can, we'll embed it, but in the meantime, enjoy it here.