If you spent any time on Stan Twitter during the Thank U, Next era, you know that the "7 Rings" crew wasn't just a marketing gimmick. It was a real-life sisterhood. At the center of that circle was Njomza, the soulful singer-songwriter who didn't just hang out with Ariana Grande—she co-wrote the hits that defined a generation. But then, the silence happened. Fans started noticing the lack of Instagram tags. The birthday shoutouts vanished. Everyone started asking: why did njomza and ariana fall out and was it actually as dramatic as the rumors suggested?
Friendships in the music industry are fragile. They’re built on late-night studio sessions and shared trauma, but they’re also subject to the crushing weight of ego, business, and constant public scrutiny.
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The 7 Rings Origin Story
Let's take it back to Tiffany’s. The legend goes that Ariana, fueled by champagne and a rough breakup, bought seven engagement rings for her best friends. Njomza was one of them. In fact, Njomza is often credited with the very idea for the song "7 Rings." She was there in the trenches during the recording of the Thank U, Next album, a project birthed from the grief of Mac Miller’s passing and the end of the Pete Davidson engagement.
Njomza wasn't just a background player. She has writing credits on "7 Rings" and "Fake Smile." This wasn't just a "celebrity and her assistant" dynamic. This was a creative partnership between two women who had both been deeply affected by the loss of Mac Miller. Njomza was signed to Mac’s REMember Music label years prior. They shared a history that predated the global superstardom.
Then things got quiet. Real quiet.
The Twitter Thread That Changed Everything
The first real crack in the porcelain appeared in 2019. It wasn't a formal press release or a dramatic unfollowing—those came later. It started with a series of deleted tweets. Njomza posted something that many interpreted as a dig at Ariana’s creative process or perhaps the way credit was being distributed.
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"Ppl love to take credit for things they didn't do," she wrote. It was vague. It was messy. It was classic cryptic social media shade.
Ariana, never one to let a sub-tweet slide during that era, responded. She didn't name names, but she mentioned how she always tries to lift others up and how "sad" it is when people let greed or envy get in the way. It was the digital equivalent of a cold shoulder in a crowded room. Shortly after, the unfollowing happened. In the world of Gen Z celebrity culture, an unfollow on Instagram is the modern-day "I’m suing you."
Why Did Njomza and Ariana Fall Out? The Mac Miller Connection
To understand the tension, you have to understand the grief. Both women loved Mac Miller. Njomza was his protégé; Ariana was the love of his life. When Mac passed away in September 2018, the group of friends around him huddled together for warmth. But grief is a strange beast. It can bond people, or it can create a situation where seeing a certain person is a constant, painful reminder of what you’ve lost.
Some insiders suggest that the fallout wasn't about one specific fight, but rather the "7 Rings" success itself. When a song becomes that big—we’re talking record-breaking, chart-topping big—the business side gets ugly. Royalties, publishing percentages, and public credit become points of contention. If Njomza felt her contribution was the "soul" of the song but she was being treated like a "guest," that’s a recipe for resentment.
It’s also worth noting that Ariana’s circle tightened significantly after 2019. She moved away from the "squad" aesthetic and toward a more private, husband-focused life with Dalton Gomez (and later, the Ethan Slater era). People grow apart. Sometimes, the person you needed during your darkest hour is the person you can't stand to look at once the sun comes up because they saw you at your weakest.
The "Fake Smile" Irony
There’s a deep irony in the fact that they worked together on a song called "Fake Smile." The lyrics talk about being unable to pretend that everything is okay for the cameras.
"I can't fake another smile / I can't say I'm alright / My life is a mess and I'm not gonna lie."
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Maybe they just stopped faking it with each other. For a long time, the narrative was that Ariana was the "leader" and the others were the "friends." That dynamic is inherently unstable. If Njomza wanted to establish her own identity as an artist—which she has, with incredible tracks like "Lonely Nights"—being "Ariana’s friend" might have felt like a cage.
Where Do They Stand Today?
Is there a reconciliation on the horizon? In the last year or so, the ice has begun to thaw, albeit very slowly. There haven't been any "bestie" selfies, but the public hostility has ceased. Ariana has occasionally liked posts related to Njomza’s music, and the vitriol from the fanbases has died down.
In the music industry, "beef" usually lasts as long as the next album cycle. But this felt different. This felt like a genuine friendship breakup. Those hurt worse than romantic ones. You don't just lose a partner; you lose your sounding board, your co-writer, and the person who knows exactly why you’re crying at 3:00 AM.
What You Can Learn From This Celebrity Rift
Watching the Njomza and Ariana situation unfold offers some pretty blunt lessons about human relationships, especially when money and fame are involved.
- Credit your collaborators early. Whether it's a multi-platinum hit or a group project at work, resentment breeds in the gap between who did the work and who got the applause.
- Grief isn't a straight line. You can't expect a friendship forged in tragedy to remain the same once the immediate crisis has passed.
- Social media is a weapon. If you're upset with a friend, the worst place to go is Twitter. One "vague-tweet" can burn a bridge that took ten years to build.
- Space is okay. Sometimes a "fallout" is just two people needing to breathe without the other person's oxygen.
The story of why these two drifted apart isn't just about "clout" or "stolen lyrics." It's a messy, human story about two talented women trying to navigate the hardest years of their lives under a microscope. Njomza continues to carve out a space for herself in the R&B world, and Ariana remains a pop titan. They may never share a Tiffany’s breakfast again, but their creative DNA is permanently intertwined in the songs that defined an era.
The best way to respect the work they did together is to listen to the music. Check out Njomza's solo discography to see the raw talent that Ariana was so drawn to in the first place. Move past the gossip and appreciate the art that came from a very real, very complicated bond.
Next Steps for Music Fans:
- Listen to Njomza’s VACATION EP to understand her individual sonic thumbprint outside of the Grande collaboration.
- Compare the writing credits on Thank U, Next with Ariana’s later work like Eternal Sunshine to see how her collaborative circle has shifted.
- Audit your own creative partnerships. Ensure everyone feels seen and compensated fairly before a project goes live to avoid the "7 Rings" trap of resentment.