Ariana Grande

[subversive light 3,508]

her worst album but its better than most releases in 2018 lmaooooo 

everytime is a bop

[TrashMagiq 58,573]

imagine the whole album only being produced by max martin, ilya and tommy brown.. it would've been her best

[GroupieLove 2,621]

imagine the whole album only being produced by max martin, ilya and tommy brown.. it would've been her best

 

No, it would've been DW 2.0. Not here for that.

[Crimson and Clover 22,505]

 

yessss I was right 

[TrashMagiq 58,573]

Sweetener went nr1!

[Tammy 2,291]

It's a great album, she deserves to be number 1.

[mid july 1,752]

breathin is now on youtube on her channel, guess it's gonna be the next single

[Pocket Gay 749]

breathin is now on youtube on her channel, guess it's gonna be the next single

 

getting justice for Touch It not being a single, we love a generous queen.

[Lust 4,031]

Get well soon is underrated, really one of her best songs

[white gold 4,242]

warning: this post is kind of a hot take. it's not scalding, but I just have some thing to say about Ariana Grande's 4th studio album, Sweetener. 

 

 

One week later, I've decided I’m moderately disappointed in Sweetener. I enjoy it because I like her voice and I appreciate her perspective, but I think the album could have been so much better if she had worked with better people. She is so talented and so smart, but Sweetener is her worst album. It's hard to compete with the rest of her discography--I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Yours Truly, My Everything, Dangerous Woman, and her Christmas EP's. She's released and enormous catalog of really charming, polished, and beautiful music. Sweetener was a huge disappointment for me. 

 

This era was really strange. She had a really long social media blackout following her traumatic Manchester experience. I was worried about her health the entire time, and it seems like she's recovered (for the most part). Then she comes back on twitter and starts using stan twitter lingo. It was cute. She started typing upside down. It was cute. Then it got kinda old really fast. She slowly became just as annoying as all the other twitter twinks. There's nothing wrong with that--I love the messy twitter twinks! It's just not what I expect from a distinguished celebrity such as Ariana Butera Grande. She's 25yo I guess so I guess I just learned to appreciate her youthful energy. It felt really transparent (in a good way) and I respect her for that... but it just made her seem kinda shallow. Maybe she’s just really guarded, and only puts up the stan twitter shit as a façade. But she’s also hanging around those AWFUL white gays who look like twins, so who knows?

 

Did she ever explain the upside down bullshit besides “everything felt upside down after Manchester”? whatever I’m not gonna drag for her that, but it got kind of weird. We could talk about the effects of Manchester all day long, but I think I want to go down that hole tbh since it’s just a sensitive topic and it makes me kind of emotional.

 

NTLTC and GIAW are great lead singles. I'm really happy she chose them as singles, and I hope they continue to get radio play. I really want the best for her. TLIC was the first red flag from Sweetener. Pharrell attempted to experiment with certain sounds and it just didn't pay off. TLIC is kind of a fucking trainwreck. I like some elements of the song, but it's just so boring and the samples are annoying. it's bad. it's just so fucking bad. IMO it's the worst track on the album (except maybe borderline or get well soon). Pre-release, I was praying every night that the rest of Sweetener wouldn't be as fucking garbage as TLIC. 

 

I pre-ordered it on iTunes. I bought the livestream. I gifted to friends. I was going all in on AG4 because I really had super high hopes for it. I told myself I wasn't gonna listen to the leak 2 hours before the release, but then I ended up listening to the leak anyways. 

 

I heard raindrops before. It's beautiful! I have no idea why she included it, but it's cute. There is that one note that almost broke the fucking microphone... idk how it made the final cut. Seriously did they not hear that distorted audio in the studio? Isn’t that producers’ jobs? Idgi. Her other intros are better.

 

Blazed. Why does she have a track called Blazed on her album? It makes her seem like a cannabis culture icon, even though she is nothing of the sort (is this influenced by pete?? gross). The production is typical Pharrell shit, but it's tolerable. I like hearing more guitars on Ariana tracks. It's a sound she hasn't really experimented with before Sweetener, and I'm happy to see her toying with new things. I still don't like it. Pharrell's feature is unnecessary, but it's not super annoying. I don't appreciate her low-energy, airy vocals. This song is so upbeat but why does it feel like a dud?

 

TLIC--this song has been dragged enough. Based off their interactions, it seems like Ariana and Nicki have a really cute friendship. They should've scrapped this song, even though I love some parts of the beat. I could drag this all day but I’m not. I loved the Reebok promo pics!

 

R.E.M. sounds like a Christmas & Chill b-side. It's SO embarrassing that the Beyonce demo of this leaked, since Beyonce did 900% better than Ariana. Did Beyonce record this in like 2016? This song sounds like it was made in literally like 2016.

 

I love GIAW. I really wanted this song to go #1 (i know I'm delusional). Like I mentioned earlier, I LOVE hearing her experiment with guitars on her tracks. I don't like the low-energy singing/rapping, but unfortunately that's what's trendy rn. I think she really wanted this to go #1, but it just wasn’t right

 

Since the album’s release, the title track, Sweetener, has really grown on a lot of people. It’s still slowly growing on me, and I’m still not sure exactly what I think about it. It’s really quirky. IDK why she named the album after such a weird track. Apparently this is the first song she wrote for the album.

 

I LOVE SUCCESSFUL. Don’t ask me why. The production is so simple (and sounds like Animal Crossing music). Her vocal delivery on this track is so sassy and has so much energy. This song always puts me in a super good mood. Even though the chorus isn’t very melodically interesting, it has so much rhythmic energy because of how the accents on the words work with the accents on the beats (idk how to explain this better). I love the random “does it make you feel…. cold!!!!”. She’s living her random spoken word poetry moment, and I love her for it.

 

Everytime is the catchiest song on the album imo (yes I think it’s even catchier than NTLTC and GIAW). The chorus is just so catchy. I love everything about this track! I have no complaints. She sounds kind of nasally on the “why oh why” bits, but that gives the song a little more personality. Shame that Selena Gomez stole the name “Back To You,” since that was clearly the working title for Everytime. I could see this being a single after Breathin.

 

Breathing is the standout hit from the album (after NTLTC and GIAW). Definitely going to be the next single unless something crazy happens. She said this song was about her anxiety attacks—relatable queen. Some parts of the production (specifically the drums) remind me of HAIM. This literally sounds like a HAIM song. The second chorus is so fucking good. This song is fantastic. I shamelessly blast it with my windows down while driving (not something I would usually do with an Ariana bop). The general public needs to hear this masterpiece!!!!

 

NTLTC. I love this song. I was kind of disappointed in it when I first heard it (bc I had super high expectations), but I’m happy it was a successful single. Something about this song makes me feel like I should be holding a light saber idk.

 

Borderline should have been scrapped. Ariana sounds good. Is this song about pete’s BPD? This track is such a dud. I like Missy but wtf is she doing on this track??? She sounds comatose in her feature that sounds like it randomly got tacked on to the end.  

 

Better Off is really good. I think it + Goodnight n Go made me tear up on my first listen. It’s a really sweet song. It’s definitely not a bop, but I appreciate this song a lot. I love when Ariana makes really sweet, endearing music. This song makes me feel so fuzzy. I like it a lot.

 

Goodnight N Go is a cover of some song from some indie thot I’ve heard of maybe like 9 times maximum (jk Imogen is okay). I HATE the first awful, dated electronic drop. It just sounds so fucking basic. Is that awful drop in the original Imogen version? I hope not. I love the last 1~2 minutes of this song. I think that’s what made me get so emotional the first time I heard this song. This song could’ve been so great, but there are a lot of really bad elements that I can’t overlook.

 

Pete Davidson—okay ariana whatever you do that. I’m happy she found someone she loves, but I think she can do so much better. Why is some of the best production on an interlude about a crackhead? Why not name it something else? Why not scrap it?

 

I remember when she teased Get Well Soon on instagram in 2017. I was so excited for the album back then. This track starts SO promising but it’s just way to repetitive and not interesting at all. She said this song was originally ~3 minutes long and then apparently Pharrell added something, and it ended up being 5min+…. It probably sounded better before he touched it. Her voice is pretty on it though. I appreciate the 5:22 Manchester homage. It’s subtle and sweet.

 

ANYWAYS, even though I like a lot of this album, some if it is SO bad and unpolished compared to the rest of her discography. I hold her to very high standards because I know she’s a smart, talented artist with so much potential. It sounds like she experimented with a lot of new things this album, and I hope she uses those lessons when producing her next album.

 

It’s okay… every discography has a worst album. And for Ariana, that’s Sweetener.

[Lad 8,801]

Like this if you didn’t read the comment above

[GroupieLove 2,621]

Like this if you can read unlike the member above me.

[drewby 9,246]

Awful white gays who look like twins... you mean her dancers, which are actually twins? You're trolling right?

[TrashMagiq 58,573]

REM has such potential. Beyoncé really did do it so much better. If they got rid of the annoying ass breathing sounds throughout the song (or just made them way quieter because they’re like, way too loud and basically ruin the song) and kept in that bridge from the Beyoncé version it would’ve been so much better. I didn’t even notice the breathing sounds at first but now I can literally not even listen to the song.

[BeautifulAnywhere 5,417]

REM has such potential. Beyoncé really did do it so much better. If they got rid of the annoying ass breathing sounds throughout the song (or just made them way quieter because they’re like, way too loud and basically ruin the song) and kept in that bridge from the Beyoncé version it would’ve been so much better. I didn’t even notice the breathing sounds at first but now I can literally not even listen to the song.

I actually didn’t like the Beyoncé bridge I wish Ariana would’ve made her own bridge & actually included the phrase “R.E.M.”

 

Something like

“Boy I gotta wake you up

Gotta get you out of R.E.M.

Boy let’s burst the bubble

Get you in this bed, & stop playin’ pretend”

 

But with Beyoncé type of aggression would’ve made the song go even higher. I love it but it needed a little flame to it

[white gold 4,242]

sorry yall decided to start stanning Ari during her worst era. I mean--its not bad but this is definitely her worst work. wish you were here sooner. sorry 

[white gold 4,242]

Like this if you didn’t read the comment above

girl pick an avatar without some nasty brassy hair n grow up 

[renaissance 8,329]

sorry yall decided to start stanning Ari during her worst era. I mean--its not bad but this is definitely her worst work. wish you were here sooner. sorry 

omg shut up you didn't like the album but other people did???? not my problem lol 

[white gold 4,242]

omg shut up you didn't like the album but other people did???? not my problem lol 

I like ag4 but i just think its really weird that its her most critically acclaimed album... it sucks

[HEARTCORE 18,971]

I like ag4 but i just think its really weird that its her most critically acclaimed album... it sucks

People have different taste - shocker!