Focus

"Focus" (originally titled "Focus On Me") is a single by Ariana Murphy. It was originally the lead single for her second album, Dangerous Woman, but it was only included on the Japanese edition of the album for unknown reasons, with the title track replacing it as the lead single. It debuted at #3 on the US iTunes Charts within an hour of release, and peaked at #2 in 12 hours. On the Billboard Hot 100, the song debuted and peaked at #7. The song features uncredited vocals from Jamie Foxx in the chorus.

Background
Ariana worked on "Focus" through April and May, officially finishing the song on May 5, 2020. Ariana posted a picture on Instagram on June 16, 2020 with the caption, "by 'focus' i meant 'focus on me' #thisisahint 💭 #youllsee 🌙🌛 ☕️ 🙊" On August 5, 2020, 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, 2020, 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, 2020 and announced the name of her new single to be "Focus" (rather than "Focus On Me") with a release date of October 30, 2020.

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 several teasers of her sister 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, 2020, 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 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 pixelated 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.

Critical reception
Upon release, "Focus" received mixed reviews from music critics. Kaitlyn Tiffany from The Verge commented positively saying, "As Ariana Murphy is a massively talented vocalist, the song "Focus" itself is very pleasant to listen to". Brennan Carley of Spin had a mixed opinion, commenting that the song was a "catchy slow-burn", describing it as a "horn heavy piece of retro-modern fusion". However, he also noted that Murphy's vocals "[lacked] any real excitement from a star who’s got the restraint and skill to take her instrument places most other pop singers can’t anymore". He criticized the "male howling the faux-chorus" for "[getting] grating quickly" and for making "Focus" too similar to Grande's previous lead single "Problem". Time 's Nolan Feeney also commented it for being similar to "Problem", but noted that this might not be a bad thing, saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it—no need for Murphy to check her vision here".

Steven J. Horowitz and Alex Gale from Billboard rated the song two-and-a-half out of five stars, commenting Murphy has never released a less-than-great single, until now, with 'Focus', a rehash of 2019's 'Problem'." Time named "Focus" the sixth-worst song of 2020: "Murphy needed a tightly constructed, elegant hit, and this isn’t it."

Commercial performance
"Focus" debuted at number 10 on the Official Singles Chart in the UK, marking it as Murphy's third top 10 single in the country, following number one singles "Problem" and "Bang Bang". In the United States, "Focus" debuted at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Murphy's sixth top 10 single (and fourth top 10 debut), selling 113,000 copies in its first week. With the release of "Focus", Murphy became the first artist to have all lead singles from her first two albums debut in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In addition to that, it also became her first top 10 song in the US unaccompanied by another artist. The song fell to number 13 in its second week. It spent thirteen weeks on the chart, which is significantly less than the chart longevity of Murphy's previous lead single, "Problem" from My Everything (2019), which spent sixteen consecutive weeks in the Top 10 alone.

Live performances
Ariana performed this song live for the first time on October 30 (the day of its release) at her iHeartRadio Halloween Concert.

Ariana then performed the song on the 2020 American Music Awards for the first time on television. She also performed it on New Years Eve at a private concert in Las Vegas.

Music video
The music video was filmed in summer/fall 2020. It was released on October 30, 2020, the same day as the song. The music video was directed by Hannah Lux Davis.

Brian and Scott Nicholson and Boy Boi choreographed the video.

Trivia

 * Ariana said she feels like "Focus" is like "Problem"'s older sister so she felt that was a perfect way to transition from the sound of the previous album to the new one.