On Friday, May 8, the Ariana Grande announced “hate that i made you love me,” the lead single from her upcoming eighth studio album petal, arriving May 29. Alongside the reveal, Grande confirmed the track was produced by herself, Max Martin, and ILYA Salmanzadeh — the same creative trio behind some of the defining records of her career.
Grande shared the announcement directly with fans on social media, writing: “hate that i made you love me / my first single off of petal / 5.29 / one of my favorite songs i’ll ever write / produced by my favorite collaborators and dearest human beings in the world, the brilliant @ilya_music, the one and only max martin (and me) / i simply cannot wait for it to be yours.”
That final line immediately amplified anticipation surrounding the single, particularly after weeks of increasingly personal commentary from Grande about the emotional direction of petal. Earlier this month, she described the album as coming from a more “feral” and uninhibited place creatively, signaling a tonal shift from the polished emotional restraint that shaped Eternal Sunshine.
“It was kind of about breaking up with all kinds of negative attachments, whether it’s my own monsters in my own head, external voices. Things that no longer serve me,” Grande said in a recent Instagram video. “It’s a little feral. It’s definitely from a place that I have been maybe, like, too shy or polite to tap into before, and this kind of just feels like f**k it.”
Now, “hate that i made you love me” appears positioned as the first real sonic introduction to that mindset. The involvement of Max Martin and ILYA also carries major weight. Martin helped architect some of Grande’s biggest commercial peaks, including songs from Thank U, Next, Sweetener, and Positions, while ILYA has remained one of her most trusted collaborators across the past decade.
The rollout for petal has unfolded gradually since March, when fans first began connecting cryptic references to the number eight across Grande’s social media activity. Studio selfies posted at exactly 8 a.m. PST, black-and-white imagery, and teaser clips fueled speculation long before the album was officially announced. On July 31, petal will arrive through BabyDoll Music under exclusive license to Republic Records, marking Grande’s first full-length studio album since Eternal Sunshine debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2024.
Visual presentation around the era has also sharply contrasted her previous releases. Rather than leaning into elaborate conceptual imagery, petal uses understated black-and-white aesthetics and softer photography.
Timing around the single release adds another layer of momentum. Grande is simultaneously preparing for the Eternal Sunshine Tour, which launches June 6 in Oakland and spans 41 dates through September 1 in London.
Photo: Ariana Grande/Instagram
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