You never quite know what will happen when two divas come together, but Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey are setting out to break charts not hearts with their remix of Grande’s recent ode to brushing off the haters, “yes, and?” Simply put, the two queens are maximizing their joint slay.
Although it doesn’t seem like there’s any world in which Grande would sideline Carey on anything she deigned to bless with her presence (even Grande’s clothes), the OG belter is front and center here in a way that makes the original sound almost incomplete. Sometimes, when a song is remixed to add a feature where there wasn’t one before, it feels like the new voice was just awkwardly spliced in as a way to re-release the song. (Cough, cough, “facts.”) That’s not remotely the case here.
Grande’s original video paid homage to predecessors like Paula Abdul and even Bob Fosse, and the younger star is showing the same level of reverence here. Carey gets some of the highest notes in the new version—an outsized tribute in Grande’s language, obviously—and even her own brand new verse. (“Now, I’m so done with sharing/This hypocrisy with you/Baby, you have been rejected/Go back, no more pretending, bye.”)
Grande originally announced the collab on Instagram earlier this week, writing “there truly are no words that suffice. thank you from the bottom of my heart for this dream come true and for sprinkling your brilliance and magic on my little song @mariahcarey. it means more to me than i could ever possibly articulate.” “Darling angel, I am so effing excited to be joining you on the yes, and? remix!! This is such a magical moment!!” Carey added in a story on her own account (via Rolling Stone). The two singers first joined forces (along with Jennifer Hudson) for an updated version of “Oh Santa!” in 2020.
“yes, and?” is the first and only single Grande will be releasing off her upcoming seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine. “I wanted to say… as hard as it is to resist the urge to share another song or single with you all ASAP, I would really love for you to experience the album in full this time,” she wrote in an Instagram story earlier this month. Until the full LP drops on March 8, you can add this remix to the eight versions of “yes, and?” Grande has already released to tide you over.