Fact Check: Did Ariana Grande use a racial expletive in an unreleased song? Viral audio debunked

A viral audio clip recently circulating the internet has got people thinking Ariana Grande used a racial expletive in one of her unreleased songs. The audio clip used an image of Ariana Grande and her ex-boyfriend Big Sean as the album art. On July 9, it was posted on X by the handle @DropPopNet.

However, @DropPopNet is a parody account, and Grande did not use a racial expletive on the track as she was not the person who sang it. The excerpt was taken from a track by singer Ahna Mac called Forever Sorry. Mac even posted a screenshot of the tweet on Instagram and acknowledged the song going viral on TikTok due to people thinking it was sung by the 7 Rings hitmaker.

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Ariana Grande's supposed track with the racial expletive is Ahna Mac's Forever Sorry

A viral excerpt from what people claim is an unreleased Ariana Grande song spread throughout social media like wildfire. Many users were left confused by the track supposedly sung by Grande and scrapped from her latest Eternal Sunshine album as it contained a racial expletive, the N-word.

The clip was posted on X by an account named @DropPopNet, which claimed Grande was facing backlash for her usage of the N-word in an unreleased track. Accompanying the audio clip was an image of Grande and rapper Big Sean, who briefly dated in the mid-2010's. The track went:

"Fell in love accidental/ Head over heels started f**king with my mental/ You the best at being ain't s**t/ N***a you deserve a medal/ But that's on me, I shouldn't be f**king with the devil n***a."

However, a quick look at the description section of @DropPopNet reveals that this is a parody account. The account insists that it isn't impersonating any news source and states that the content it posts is "satirical" and not meant to be taken seriously. A reader-added context note to the audio excerpt read:

"This is a song called "Forever Sorry" by Ahna Mac which was edited with AI to sound like Ariana Grande."

Although it isn't verified if AI tools were used to edit the audio, the track does not belong to Ariana Grande. Instead, the excerpt was from a track released on September 4, 2023, by Anyssa Santiago, professionally known as Ahna Mac. The track was produced by INJDWETRUST. Mac's song went instantly viral once the Grande comparisons took over social media.

Currently, the track sits at the top of the singer's 'Popular' page on Spotify. The singer pinned the post announcing the song's release on her official Instagram handle. She later took to the platform on Tuesday, July 9, to release a post acknowledging the track's sudden rise in popularity.

In the post, the singer could be seen excitedly jumping around, claiming that her track was about to hit a million streams on Spotify. The singer also joked:

"Thank you to the n***a who broke my heart. I wouldn't be here without you."

She also posted statistics showcasing the song's sudden rise in popularity and a few TikToks of people thinking it was Ariana Grande who sang it. She also posted a screenshot of the tweet by @DropPopNet. Ahna Mac captioned her post:

"Nah imma cry I love yall I barely pushed this song but this means the most ! It's currently going viral on TikTok and Twitter as well Lmaoaoaoao even if yall thought I was Arianna grande I love yall🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 BIG UPS TO MY GUY @INJDWETRUST MADE THIS ALL POSSIBLE THANKYOU GANG ITS UP FROM HERE💕🌟"

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Meanwhile, in other Ariana Grande news, she sent messages of encouragement to her brother, Frankie Grande, after Frankie got a nose job. Under Frankie's July 6 Instagram reveal of his nose job, Ariana commented that he was "perfect in all ways, always."