Ariana Grande

[jvsminefempop 88]

9 minutes ago, House of Balloons said:

Do you? Ariana stepped out of her comfort zone, pushed her own boundaries and experimented with different, unconventional sounds. Experimental music. 

dunno that I 100% agree with this but I do love your signature ?

 

sweetener was experimental for Ari but I would never call it experimental pop. it was just a really well rounded pop album seemingly inspired by multiple other genres, experimental included. just my opinion tho

[Vanilla Icy 29,602]

“experimental” isn’t technically a genre it’s just whenever an artist experiments out of their comfort zone or the contemporary 

[KillForLove 13,362]

wow this is terrible

[jvsminefempop 88]

14 minutes ago, new gods said:

“experimental” isn’t technically a genre it’s just whenever an artist experiments out of their comfort zone or the contemporary 

 

I mean I won't lie, I'm certainly no music theory major or anything but I would argue that 'outside the contemporary' constitutes a genre, even if that genre is ever changing. but I wouldn't say 'outside one artists comfort zone' constitutes a genre. Taylor Swift experimenting with pop didn't make her pop-country fusion sound 'experimental' the way that music outside of popular music on the radio is experimental. again, my own personal opinion and I'm certainly no expert. I just would not consider what Ariana has ever done, besides maybe the light is coming, to be experimental compared to other artists. 

[fvck 2,223]

I don’t know what crack y’all are smoking in this thread, this shit slaps.    
 

[house of balloons 12,795]

3 minutes ago, fvcku said:

I don’t know what crack y’all are smoking in this thread, this shit slaps
 

in the face

[AzebraBanks 130]

Love Language is one of her best songs ever

[bloodydriver 4,582]

Speaking solely of the Positions single, because I haven’t listened to the album itself, I find it hard to actually hear the lyrics correctly at times ?

Idk if it’s because I’m dumb or because English isn’t my first language, but I wish I understood what she was saying a bit better

[Dark Angel 203,618]

3 minutes ago, titanicearth said:

Speaking solely of the Positions single, because I haven’t listened to the album itself, I find it hard to actually hear the lyrics correctly at times ?

Idk if it’s because I’m dumb or because English isn’t my first language, but I wish I understood what she was saying a bit better

 

i didn't understand a lot of what she was saying either, you're definitely not the only one.

 

and honestly i think it's the most solid track on the album  like it's pretty bland but i can see why it's a bop and it's cute. 

[TRENCH 15,450]

13 minutes ago, titanicearth said:

Speaking solely of the Positions single, because I haven’t listened to the album itself, I find it hard to actually hear the lyrics correctly at times ?

Idk if it’s because I’m dumb or because English isn’t my first language, but I wish I understood what she was saying a bit better

She’s literally incoherent in this song it’s like laughable.
It’s not you don’t worry 

[drewby 9,249]

The album is good, at a times understated R&B. She sings most of the album in her mid-range rather than belting, which is nice to hear, but she still has moments where she shows off her range. It's certainly not a masterpiece or perfect storm of an album in the way Thank U Next was, but most artists only have that once in their career. It probably would've benefitted from her sitting with the tracks more to develop the ideas, but I believe this is fully the album she wanted to make in its purest vision without tampering.

 

It won't be for everyone and that's OK. As for the discussion above, I would not define this as experimental as a whole or even experimental for her, really. These are sounds and influences she's dabbled in before, and it doesn't really push R&B as a genre in a different direction than where it currently is... but she's never been a trendsetter so honestly expecting her to do that is misguided

[jvsminefempop 88]

lemme preface by saying I'm not the biggest Ariana stan or anything but I can confidently say I love most of her music up til now. took me awhile to get into her as I couldn't get past the donut situation for awhile but now that I have I pretty much stream all her albums and then download as much live stuff that I can find from fans who make audio sets. she's fantastic live and with a full band. I don't really obsess over her every move tho as far as music videos and fashion, social media posts etc. so here's my pretty unbiased opinion of positions. 

 

 

1. cute, legit feels a little disney 
2. it's sexy but also again, pretty cute. I expected this to be another sensual Dangerous Women-esque song. I'm not disappointed tho, it's a fun little romp in the sheets
3. I was a little bored with this one til Doja came on, I won't lie
4. I love this one, I really feel the positivity and the self-love, and I love the magic metaphor, talking about meditation and manifestation...as a semi-practicing pagan, I loved it
5. was disappointed with this one. I feel like she thinks she did somethin and I was just real bored
6. just unnecessary. should be an  unreleased track that leaks as a track rumored for this album. 
7. I forgot about this song the instant it was over
8. wanted to love this one, but by the time I got through most of it, I was fully convinced that Ariana is about to come as trans-racial. when 7 Rings dropped and she said 'like my hair? gee thanks, just bought it' people blew the f up and I kind of thought 'okay but she is specifically known for her long ponytail, which is most certainly purchased, so I personally don't see the issue' but idk, with the 'usually don't let people touch it' line, that's like....specifically a Black issue, people asking to touch your hair. it just seems really weird that she's adopting this as an issue she has. more on this later
9. after 4 semi-cringey songs, I was relieved with this one, kind of. I have my issues with it but I enjoy a good meaningless sex track, and after 34+35, I really wanted one like this
10. another forgetable one
11. see above
12. easily the best track on the album, and I loved it immediately as a single. it's definitely a little basic but it's super catchy. I also think it could have been on thank u, next
13. this one ain't it either
14. another cute disney-ish track

 

 

overall, I'm a little disappoined. I think most of these songs are only going to be enjoyable to longtime stans who really enjoy letting Ariana be Ariana, and that's okay. I think positions could have been an ep of the best songs or she should have rereleased thank u, next with a few songs as deluxe tracks. I didn't expect to agree with the majority of the people here saying it was boring, the production was lacking creativity, and the lyrics were weak, but I actually kind of agree. I'm usually fine with Ari not being the greatest lyricist(did I spell that right? it's frickin late ?) bc her production and vocals are usually so sick but I just...felt nothing. sweetener and thank u, next felt so incredibly personal. 'we go like up til I'm 'sleep on your chest' is so ridiculous but I still effing FELT that. she shit on Scooter Braun for forcing her to release ghostin and that shit was literally pure magic, I was sobbing at the fcking bus stop when I heard it the first time. yet I seriously felt like she's more proud of singing off the table and it is just so inferior. gahhh. 

 

and to my main concern... I used to be a raging liberal, and over the last few years I've mellowed out and am kind of of the opinion that there are a LOT of people that are indeed sitting around waiting to be offended. when Ari dropped 7 Rings and people freaked out about the hair stuff, the trap house, etc, I brushed them off.

 

then we saw the cover for thank u, next. she's in straight up blackface. that scandal passed of course bc she was on top of the world and the album slapped but I'm sorry... her attempt to 'sound black' is egregious at this point. almost every song had some cringeworthy fake-ebonics blaccent moment and on top of the not letting ppl touch her hair line, I'm starting to see what people mean. 

 

all in all, I'm not saying I think the album is a flop but I definitely think it's her worst, and a career low. I think it would be very wise of her to drop an EP of new songs in about 5-7 months prior to a world tour(if those are going on by then), and she usually does collabs and features and soundtrack stuff so... I have hope for this era. but damn... was really hoping for some new fire tonight. I'll probably give it a few more listens and I'm REALLY hoping it grows on me. it really bums me out to be disappointed by this much content that I was excited for. this is the biggest let down since I found out BLACKPINK's first album was called The Album and only had eight gd tracks. 

 

we got folklore and how i'm feeling now and I Disagree and Violents Bent Backwards and Miley's rock era is starting this year so I guess SOMETHING bad had to happen. the pop gods giveth and the pop gods taketh away. 

[WaitForLife 5,250]

Positions is better than TUN.

[True Romance 6,195]

10 minutes ago, prettywhenicry said:

Positions is better than TUN.

me when i lie

[HEARTCORE 18,971]

the alboom is so bad omfg she really fell off 

[OverYourHead 6,279]

8 hours ago, lizyyygrant said:

 y’all don’t like r&b in the slightest so why would you even like positions?

 

I love r&b, and I liked sweetener, but this album....ain’t it. I moreso trust the opinions of people who like r&b to determike whether this album was good or not, bcus of course ppl who have never listened to that genre before won’t like it 

 

8 hours ago, lizyyygrant said:

sounds like a watered down result of all the r&b albums I already listen to.
 

im not sure if summer walker is “respected” in r&b tho lol

We get it you like R&B you don’t have to keep trying. 
I don’t know a single person who doesn’t like R&B but this ain’t it sis, neither is sweetener

[TrashMagiq 58,975]

dangerous woman > sweetener = TUN (i like TUN better as a body of work but the swt songs kinda superior) > yours truly = positions > my everything

 

i rlly like positions tho 

[Crack Prince 507]

Where can I find the album. I only wanna hear the Doja song pls

 

NVM found it.

& it's not v good, bye

[WildMustang 14,774]

honestly im not even a fan but i thought it would be worse judging by your comments, and it's just okay? it's what I expected from her. It will be totally a grower to her fans. 

[Marius 12,856]

18 minutes ago, Crack Prince said:

Where can I find the album. I only wanna hear the Doja song pls

 

NVM found it.

& it's not v good, bye

it's bad. out of 3 collabs (surprisingly) the one with dolla is the best.