Less than six months after Sweetener, Ariana Grande has dropped a NEW album. I’m all about artists taking time to perfect the newest album (like where the hell is Rihanna, but I digress), in fear that releases too close together would sound similar.
After my first listen through, I couldn’t help but admire Ariana. thank u, next sounds astronomically different from Sweetener. On this album, she lets us into the difficult year she had, from losing Mac Miller, to her relationship with Pete Davidson, and her own personal growth.
I’m always a fan of her emo tracks, so here are the top three tracks you ABSOLUTELY have to listen to:
1. ghostin’
Okay, I cry a LOT. But this song was absolutely heartbreaking. We can assume, as listeners who are avid pop culture consumers, that this is about Ariana and Pete dealing with the aftermath of Mac’s death. It’s a loose sample of Mac Miller’s “2009,” and mimics some lyrics from “Cinderella,” which both Mac and Ariana confirmed was about her.
2. NASA
NASA is all about needing space, so this is my jam. The beat of this song is such a BOP, and the lyrics are phenomenal. She’s requesting space so she can miss him and spend some time alone. BUT WAIT, she says “Keep me in your orbit and you know you’ll drag me under,” so is this about Pete? He was making all those jokes about Ariana being way out of his league….
3. in my head
“Look at you, boy I invented you.” This is such a bad bitch song. She basically takes credit for all that her lover became, but who he truly was wasn’t what she wanted or needed. Everyone fantasizes and idealizes their lovers, and who we see in our head typically isn’t the person standing in front of us.
Honorable Mention:
“break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored”
Just watch the music video. She really just made a video saying “break up with your girlfriend but I want her, not you.” MOOD.
This album just might be her best album to date. Listen to thank u, next and let me know what your favorites are, what you hated (there aren’t any songs that deserve to be hated) and where you were when you cried to “ghostin.”
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