Songfacts®:

• "I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend" is a ferocious, synth-heavy banger that takes aim at past relationships that refuse to stay in the past. Three days after releasing it as a single, Banks gave the song its live debut on October 21, 2024 at London's KOKO, during the 10th Anniversary Tour for her debut album, Goddess.
• The track features Florida rapper Doechii. Banks was already a fan before they worked together, and their collaboration came together via a mutual friend. "She was such a lovely angel from the beginning," Banks told NME. "She told me she'd been listening to Goddess for years, which was the ultimate compliment. We sent the song back and forth, and every time I got a new version, I just had a stank face the whole time!"
  
  For those unfamiliar, a stank face is not an insult - it's the involuntary grimace one makes when hearing something so good it physically affects you.
• Banks and Doechii wrote the song with frequent Ariana Grande collaborators Tayla Parx and Trevor Brown, plus Zaire Koalo, Kareem and Albin Tengblad.
  
  "I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend" is as wonderfully petty as its title suggests, inspired by an actual event in which Banks' partner's ex sent a particularly audacious text, fully aware they were in a relationship. "We were all cracking up at the absurdity of it," she recalled. "What started off as us messing around turned into the anthem."
• Banks leans into rap on the song. While she's experimented with rhythmic delivery on past tracks, this one felt especially fun.
  
  "I love playing with rhythm and finding different pockets," she told Official Charts. "It's like my own version of rap. I've obviously written a lot of heavy, painful songs in the past, but this? This is sassy. It's actually savage."
• Banks, Kareem, Albin Tengblad and The Orphanage produced the song. It retains the dark, pulsing electronic sound that has long been her signature but injects it with a renewed sense of playfulness.
• "I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend" is the lead single from Banks' fifth album, Off With Her Head. The album title, despite its rather medieval connotations, is about silencing self-doubt.
  
  "That negative voice in your head, you have to really train yourself to let that go... just cut it out," she explained to NME. "Also, it really means being present. Get out of your head, get in your body, and let go of the past – stop thinking so much. That idea comes with a lot of acceptance and peace."