In honor of the 10th anniversary of her Yours Truly album, Ariana Grande is celebrating with a week of live performances, a line of exclusive merch, and Q&A sessions with fans. Following the release of her first two live performances, “Honeymoon Avenue” and “Daydreamin’” on Aug. 25, Grande hopped on TikTok on Aug. 26 for her first Q&A to answer questions about the making of her debut album. One fan question asked, “Which music video from this album was the most fun to film?” Ari quickly replied with, “The Way,” before recalling the fun time she had filming the video with her ex-boyfriend and late rapper, Mac Miller.
“We had no budget, didn’t even tell the label that we were gonna do it,” she said. “Made it ourselves, and we said, ‘Listen, we have a camera, we have a projector, we have music, we have balloons, we got dancers.’” Grande continued, “We didn’t have any budget or anything, we just made it. [We] showed it to the label, ’cause they brought it up to me. They were like, ‘We need to shoot a music video,’ and I was like, ‘We already did it. Here you go. What do you think?’ And they were like, ‘This is so fun.’”
“The Way” music video is a favorite amongst Arianators, as it gives a glimpse into Ari and Mac’s budding relationship. Not only are the two seen laughing and dancing with each other, but they also share a kiss at the end of the video, which ultimately sparked romance rumors when it was first released in 2013. Despite their chemistry in the music video, Grande and Miller remained friends. But that changed in 2016 when they ~finally~ began dating. Ari and Mac’s romance lasted until May 2018 when the singer announced they were no longer together. “This is one of my best friends in the whole world and favorite people on the planet,” she wrote on her IG Story at the time. “I respect and adore him endlessly and am grateful to have him in my life in any form, at all times regardless of how our relationship changes or what the universe holds for each of us!”
Four months after their breakup, in September 2018, Miller died of an accidental overdose. In 2019, Grande opened up about her relationship with the rapper, who she called her “dearest friend,” in her cover story for Vogue. “By no means was what we had perfect, but, like, f*ck. He was the best person ever, and he didn’t deserve the demons he had,” she told the magazine. “I was the glue for such a long time, and I found myself becoming… less and less sticky. The pieces just started to float away.”
Since his death, Ari has continued to honor Miller’s memory. In the rerecorded version of “The Way,” which she released on Aug. 25, Miller’s verse is played along to a string orchestra. Grande also paid tribute to the late rapper in the cover art of her Yours Truly (Deluxe) album. Below the title of the album, she included “‘The Way’ feat. Mac Miller,” which is the only thing that stays up as the screen fades to black at the end of the song.