What can Ariana Grande not do? After the year that she has had in her personal life, her fans thought they had seen the last of her for a while. Nope, they were wrong.
Grande dropped her latest album, “thank u, next” on Feb. 8. The album features 12 songs, all written by Grande and her frequent team of collaborators. Grande remains on top of her game despite the rough year she’s endured. She took to songwriting to express the pain and sorrow.
Grande went through a very public breakup in 2018 ending her engagement to comedian Pete Davidson after 4 months together. On top of that, Grande’s ex-boyfriend, rapper Mac Miller, tragically died of an overdose in September 2018. Grande was devastated by the sudden loss but has shown the world, with impeccable class, that no matter how many times life knocks her down, she will always come out on top.
Her previous album, “Sweetener” was released after the bombing during her concert in Manchester, England. “Thank u, next” becomes her fifth album as well as the second album she uses to heal from the tremendous obstacles she’s been through. The album is transparent, raw and honest.
The album cover itself is fitting for the singer. It is bordered in lavender, which shows her innocence. The center has an upside-down photo of Grande, with the words “thank u next” graffitied to her chest. Her lips are covered in a shade of black that shows she is no longer pure, rather edgy and the world can prepare for a new Ari to shine.
Senior nursing major Genesee Zehnder said “Thank u, next shows a different side of Ariana Grande that isn’t sweet and innocent. She emphasizes women empowerment and that you don’t have to act a certain way to please those around you. I personally love this album.”
The album is beautifully designed with 12 works of art. Starting off with the song imagine, which she released Dec. 15 as a promotional single. On the track “ghostin,” she opens up about how she feels about Miller and Davidson. “I know it breaks your heart when I cry again over him,” she sings. The song is raw and her fans can hear the pain in her voice. The way she sings shows how broken she was and still is.
“Needy” is another song that pulls on heartstrings. She becomes vulnerable by opening up to the world. “Sorry that I’m up and down a lot. Sorry that I think I’m not enough.” Her words are powerful and many of her fans can relate.
Not all songs on the album have a sad tone. The song that is getting the most hype is, break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored.” She sings, “I know it ain’t right, but I don’t care.” This song shows a bad side of Grande we have yet to see and fans are going crazy.
“7 rings,” which was written by Grande and her best friends, was actually inspired by a trip to Tiffany & Co.. It isn’t usual for Grande to sing about her wealth and flaunt it to the world.
Njzoma, a friend of Grande, said they took a trip to Tiffany’s and the workers started “feeding” them champagne. Grande tweeted in reference to the origin of the track, “twas a pretty rough day in nyc. my friends took me to tiffany’s. we had too much champagne. i bought us all rings. it was very insane and funny. & on the way back to the stu njomza was like ‘b—h, this gotta be a song lol’. so we wrote it that afternoon.”
Her songs have inspired her fans. The record, with no shock, is currently number two on ITunes and several of the tracks are in the top 20 of the United States Top 50 chart on Spotify.
So Thank U, Ariana Grande, we can’t wait to see what you have Next.
