Ariana Grande is a 25 year old singer/songwriter & actress from Boca Raton, Florida who first came to prominence as a part of the Nickelodeon shows Victorious and Sam & Cat. She would eventually focus on a music career after signing to Republic Records although I personally don’t consider myself the biggest fan of her debut Yours Truly or the sophomore effort My Everything & her previous full-length Dangerous Woman. I was however intrigued heading into her 4th studio album considering that one of my top 10 producers Pharrell was involved.
Things start off with “raindrops (an angel cried)”, which is a decent cover of the 4 Seasons song with the same name while “blazed” gets playful over a tropical Pharrell instrumental. “the light is coming” featuring Nicki Minaj is about getting through hard times with Pharrell providing a dance-pop vibe to the beat preceding “R.E.M.” telling us the story of her & Pete Davidson over a spacey Pharrell instrumental, preceding the sex positive “God is a woman”‘ fusing R&B/trap.
The title track is about bringing positive energy over rubbery bass & a piano while the song “successful” is an empowering woman’s anthem over a Pharrell instrumental that sounds like vintage Neptunes. The track “everytime” talks about going back to this terrible boyfriend over an atmospheric beat while the song “breathin’” talks about anxiety over an instrumental I feel like I’ve heard a couple times already. The track “no tears left to cry” is about the Manchester Arena bombings from last year over a the UK garage instrumental.
“borderline” featuring Missy Elliott gets sexual over a fun Pharrell instrumental that suits the tone perfectly & the Missy verse is great, but it should’ve been a little bit longer. The track “better off” talks about her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller over a moody Hit-Boy instrumental & the song “goodnight n go” is a mediocre cover of the Imogen Heap song with the same name. The penultimate track “pete davidson” is a heartwarming tribute to her fiancé with the same name & the closer “get well soon” talks about anxiety once again over a luscious Pharrell instrumental.
I don’t mean to come off disrespectful when I say that everything Ariana Grande’s done musically preceding sweetener simply wasn’t for me & on the contrary, this is easily the most I’ve ever enjoyed her music. The contemporary R&B, dance-pop, alternative R&B & pop soul production to me was done significantly better when either Pharrell & Hit-Boy were behind the boards tackling issues such as healing, optimism, romance, sexual intimacy, unhealthy relationships, anxiety & perseverance.
Score: 3.5/5
Legends Will Never Die 