Focus

“	When I say ’focus on me’ I’m not asking to be the center of attention. I’m not asking you to focus on my face or my clothes or my body or my singing voice. By ’focus on me,’ I literally mean focus on me. Focus on what I’m all about and what I believe in.	”
–Ariana in a video from the Honeymoon Diaries

Focus
General information
Release Date	Octorber 30, 2015
Recorded	April/May 2015
Genre	Pop
Length	3:31
Label	Republic Records
Songwriter(s)	Ariana Grande, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Savan Kotecha & Peter Svensson
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Music Video

"Focus" (previously called "Focus on Me") is the lead single for Ariana Grande's third album, Moonlight.  It debuted at 3 on the US iTunes Charts within an hour of being released, and peaked at 2 within 12 hours. The song features uncredited vocal of Jamie Foxx in the chorus.

Background

Ariana began working on her second album, Moonlight, in early 2015. She worked on a majority of it while on The Honeymoon Tour. Ariana worked on "Focus" through April and May, officially finishing the song on May 5, 2015. Ariana posted a picture on Instagram on June 16, 2015 with the caption, "by 'focus' i meant 'focus on me' #thisisahint 💭 #youllsee 🌙🌛 ☕️ 🙊" On August 5, 2015, at iHeartMedia Music Summit it was confirmed that Ariana would be releasing a new single in the "following weeks" called "Focus on Me." There was a video of Ariana with Republic Records CEO Monte Lipman and Charlie Walk playing the song for the whole staff as she ran through Republic offices.

On September 2, 2015, Ariana tweeted that the "Moonlight festivities" would be starting in October. She also said that she was excited for the "nearby future" and considered October to be the "nearby future". A fan also asked what was coming first, Moonlight, "Focus on Me" or "Be Alright" to which Ariana tweeted "focus comes first."

Ariana announced that there would be a "big announcement" when she appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. She went on the show on September 15, 2015 and announced the name of her new single to be "Focus" (rather than "Focus on Me") with a release date of October 30, 2015.

With 30 days until the release of "Focus," Ariana shared the lyrics to the first verse of the song. She began sharing more lyrics throughout the countdown. On October 5, Ariana posted a 6-second snippet of the song. She also posted severeal teasers of her brother Frankie dancing/singing to the song. On October 19th, Ariana tweeted a link to her website, showing the first fragrance commercial for ARI. In the video, the background music is a snippet of Focus.

Ariana says the song is "just supposed to make you feel good and feel empowered."

Cover art

On August 25, 2015, Ariana tweeted that she was working on something with her photographer and friend Alfredo Flores. She said they were really focused followed by saying, "suuuuuuuuuuuuper focused" which was a hint that they were shooting the cover artwork for "Focus." Ariana confirmed a couple weeks later that Alfredo did shoot the cover. Alfredo wrote on his Instagram post "☀When an impromptu shoot in Jakarta turns into THISSSS! #16days #focus 📷" confirming that the artwork was actually shot in Jakarta.

With 20 days until the release of the song, Ariana posted a pixelated picture of the cover artwork. Each day for the following week she posted a less blurry/more clear picture of the cover art. Ariana told fans that the cover would more more revealing than the My Everything cover. She also told fans to look at her hairstylist's (Dalina Way's) Instagram for a hint, where a picture of a white bobby pin was posted (indicating she would have white / platinum white hair on the cover). Ariana finally released the official cover on October 14.

Music video

The music video was directed by Hannah Lux Davis who also directed the video for "Love Me Harder" and "Bang Bang." Ariana teased the video by posting gifs and short clips. It was released on October 30, 2015, the same day as the song. In the video, Ariana has white hair like the cover artwork.

Photoshoot

Lyrics

Hey!

(Ariana)
I know what I came to do
And that ain't gonna change
So go ahead and talk ya talk
'Cause I won't take the bait
I'm over here doing what I like
I'm over here working day and night
If my real ain't real enough
I'm sorry for you bae

Let's find a light inside our universe now
Where ain't nobody keep on holdin' us down
Just come and get it, let them say what they say
'Cause I'm about to put them all away

(Jamie Foxx and Ariana)

Focus on me
(Fo Fo Focus on me)
Focus on me
(Fo Fo Focus on me)
Focus on me
(Fo Fo Focus on me)
Focus
Focus on me
Focus
Focus on me

(Ariana)

I can tell you're curious
It's written on your lips
Ain't no need to hold it back
Go ahead and talk your sh*t
I know you're hopin' that I'll react
I know you're hopin' that I'm looking back
But if my real ain't real enough
Then I don't know what is

Let's find a light inside our universe now
Where ain't nobody keep on holdin' us down
Just come and get it, let them say what they say
'Cause I'm about to put them all away

(Jamie Foxx and Ariana)

Focus on me
(Fo Fo Focus on me)
Focus on me
(Fo Fo Focus on me)
Focus on me
(Fo Fo Focus on me)
Focus
Focus on me
Focus
Focus on me

(Ariana)

1, 2, 3
Come on girls
Hey
Come on hey
Hey
(Focus on me)

Let's find a light inside our universe now
Where ain't nobody keep on holdin' us down
Just come and get it, let them say what they say
'Cause I'm about to put them all away

(Jamie Foxx and Ariana)

Focus on me
(Fo Fo Focus on me)
Focus on me
(Fo Fo Focus on me)
Focus on me
(Fo Fo Focus on me)
Focus
Focus on me
Focus
Focus on me

Bae!