The first single from Ariana Grande's second album, the songstress performed the tune for the first time at the Radio Disney Music Awards on April 27, 2014.
The boisterous song was originally written by the American songwriter Savan Kotecha, who has co-penned many of One Direction's hit tunes. Ariana then worked on the track with Swedish hitmaker Max Martin, who previously created such hit tunes as "…Baby One More Time," "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "Roar." Ariana told MTV News of Max Martin: "He's amazing. I love working with him. He's like a mathematician. He knows music like math. It just makes sense to him."
The song finds Ariana singing about her insecurities about renewing a relationship with a former boyfriend whom she knows isn't good for her. "'Problem' truly represents the feeling of being absolutely terrified to re-approach a relationship that's gone sour - but you want to more than anything," she explained to Billboard magazine. Ariana added that the song is based on her still-evolving relationship with an actual ex: "In the song, it ends on a sappy, negative note, but in [real] life, we're hoping it's going to end on a positive one," she said. "I feel like it's all very honest and human."
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