"Boyfriend" (stylized in

all lowercase Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

as "boyfriend") is a song by American singer

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

and American musical duo

Social House Social House is an American musical duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As of 2020, the duo has released five singles and an EP. History Michael "Mikey" Foster and Charles "Scootie" Anderson formed Social House in 2015 after moving to Los Ange ...

. It was released by

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

on August 2, 2019. It is the second single from the latter's debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, '' Everything Changed...'' (2019). It became Grande's 14th and Social House's first top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also became the first song by a woman, and third overall, to top the ''Rolling Stone'' Top 100 Songs chart, achieving it in its debut week. It won the

MTV Video Music Award for Song of Summer The MTV Video Music Award for Song of Summer was first given out in . It is a social media voted award to crown the song of the summer Song of the summer is the unofficial designation of the song that is dominant both culturally and commercially ...

, and was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance The Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 63rd Grammy Awards category rules, "this category ...

Background

The song was first teased by Grande on her social media on July 24, 2019, when she posted a picture of herself on a video set. She followed up the posts with pictures from the same video set, revealing the song to be a collaboration with Social House. Grande hinted at the title of the song on July 29, 2019, with the caption "u ain't my boyfriend". The first teaser was posted a day later. The cover art was revealed by Grande on her social media on July 30, 2019, and the song was simultaneously made available for pre-save.

Composition

The song is written in the key of B minor, and it follows the chord progression of G_maj13—F₇—Bm₁₁—Em₉—F₇. Grande's vocals span from a low A₃ to a high F₅.

Critical reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s Jason Lipshutz called "Boyfriend" an "elastic pop track, a lovably low-stakes ode to romantic attraction but resistance to traditional labels". Amanda Mitchell of ''

O, The Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation was ...

'' opined that the song's lyrics "will hit home for anyone who's ever wanted to be coupled-up, but also enjoyed the freedom of not being in a relationship. It's the theme song for those who fear commitment—despite wanting to be someone's girlfriend". Writing for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', Gabrielle Bruney stated that it is "a completely undeniable bop", adding that it is "an effortlessly hooky R&B-pop hybrid" which "captures that torturous liminal phase in relationships, before boundaries and definitions have been set in stone, but when feelings are still very much on the line".

Music video

The music video was directed by

Hannah Lux Davis Hannah Lux Davis (born May 17, 1986) is an American music video, commercial and film director. She's known for her work especially with female artists, such as Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Christ ...

and was released alongside the song on August 2, 2019. In the video, Grande and Foster portray a dysfunctional couple seeking counseling from Anderson as they sing the song. Intermittent scenes show Grande and Foster at a party and both seeing the other flirt with other people. They each jealously fantasize about violently attacking their partner's other love interests: Grande tackles and beats one girl and pins another girl to a door by shooting an arrow into her palm; Foster kicks a guy in the face and pulls out his still-beating heart, giving it to Grande. Another sequence involves Grande pulling open her blazer and firing lasers shaped like pink hearts out of her bra, getting Foster's attention. The video ends with the couple passionately making out in the bathroom and subsequently destroying it. Anderson finds them, seemingly giving up on the couple and leaving them to their own devices. The video has since received over 221 million views as of September 2022.

Accolades

Live performances

The song was first performed live by Grande and Social House at Grande's performance at

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

on August 4, 2019, with Social House. Grande later added the song to the European leg of her

Sweetener World Tour The Sweetener World Tour was the fourth concert tour and third arena tour by American singer, songwriter and actress Ariana Grande in support of her fourth and fifth studio albums, ''Sweetener'' (2018) and ''Thank U, Next'' (2019). Led by Live Na ...

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

. *

– vocals, songwriter, vocal producer, vocal arranger * Charles Anderson – vocals, songwriter * Michael Foster – vocals, songwriter *

Edgar Barrera Édgar Barrera aka Edge is a Mexican songwriter, Record producer, producer, and musician based in Miami, Florida. He has won a total of 20 Latin Grammys and 1 Grammy Award including "Producer of The Year" in 2021. He has written and produced son ...

– producer, songwriter, programmer *

Anthony M. Jones Anthony M. Jones (Tone) is a music producer / songwriter. Artists and groups he has produced for include Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, John Legend, 24kGoldn, Sabrina Carpenter, Fifth Harmony, Post Malone, Juice Wrld, Mary J. Blige, and Keri Hilso ...

- producer, songwriter, programmer * Steven Franks – producer, songwriter, programmer * Tommy Brown – producer, songwriter, programmer * Tarron Crayton – bass guitar *

Serban Ghenea Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...

– mixer, studio personnel * John Hanes – mix engineer, studio personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2019 singles 2019 songs Ariana Grande songs Songs written by Ariana Grande Songs written by Edgar Barrera Songs written by Charles Anderson Songs written by Tommy Brown (record producer) Song recordings produced by Tommy Brown (record producer) Music videos directed by Hannah Lux Davis Songs written by Anthony M. Jones Number-one singles in Iceland Number-one singles in Israel