Mac Miller shocked fans on Tuesday when he not only deleted all of his Instagram posts — many of which were of him and his ex-girlfriend Ariana Grande — but also dropped three new songs.
"Small Worlds,""Programs," and "Buttons," are Mac's first solo records since 2016, though the rapper has garnered numerous headlines in the past couple of weeks after his relationship with Ariana ended and he was arrested on DUI and hit-and-run charges.
Because of the recent breakup, and that fact that Mac has a history of writing about Ariana, it's natural to assume there are references to Ariana in the new songs.
One of the more obvious ones is in "Small Worlds," where Mac raps, "I know I probably need to do better / Fuck whoever / Keep my shit together / You never told me being rich was so lonely."
The lyrics seem to address Ariana's recent response to a fan of Mac's on Twitter, who implied she was responsible for both the breakup and Mac's arrest. She wrote, "I have cared for him and tried to support his sobriety & prayed for his balance for years (and always will of course) but shaming / blaming women for a man’s inability to keep his shit together is a very major problem,"— emphasis on the "keep his shit together" part.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2018
In the same song, Mac seems to reference the addictions Ariana mentioned in her response.
"Programs," isn't nearly as dark as "Small Worlds," and even seems to imply Mac could be moving on from Ariana. In the chorus, he sings, "I am not talkin' to you if you don't have love for me."
He also says, "Everybody want a headline / I don't got nothin' to say / 'cept I'm coming back with the freshness / you know I love making an entrance." This could reference the media coverage of his breakup, especially since Mac's remained silent about it.
However, when his split from Ariana was first announced, TMZ cited their "busy work schedules." If that was the case, some of the lyrics in "Buttons" certainly seem to be related. "Yeah, there's no answer and you call twice / Nobody be at my house / I was at the studio all night," Mac raps, later adding "Days get mixed up / Schedules get switched up / Can't be in two places at once."
Of course, these are all just assumptions — and regardless if Ariana inspired any of the songs, I have to admit, I love all three of them.
