LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 22: Recording artist Ariana Grande performs onstage during the 2016 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 22, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Ariana Grande and collaborator Victoria Monét have shared “Better Days,” a melancholy but hopeful new song that looks forward to a less violent future.
“During this challenging time, we have to remember that the only way we will progress is if the overruling force is #Love,” Grande wrote on Instagram. “Too many precious lives were taken from us this week, this month, this year,” she continued, adding hashtags in memory of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and five police officers killed in Dallas on Thursday.
“I’m heartbroken by all of the recent tragedies the came as a result of hatred, racism and injustice,” Monét added on her SoundCloud. The singer-songwriter, 23, has previously co-written a number of songs for Grande, including Dangerous Woman tracks “Be Alright” and “Let Me Love You.”
The past week’s violence has inspired a number of artists, including Jay Z, Miguel, and ScHoolboy Q, to add their voices to the all-too-long history of music protesting racial injustice. Listen to Grande and Monét’s “Better Days” below and see Grande’s Instagram post below (via Rap-Up).
