Ariana Grande’s New Style of Pop

by JENNIFER LIM ‘20

Last summer when Ariana Grande released her album Sweetener, the song “pete davidson” received the most attention. This song was named after her then fiance, Pete Davidson, who was the center of attention of many media outlets after a whirlwind romance with Grande. Only six months later, Grande released a new album, thank u, next, a more personal and in-depth reflection of herself in comparison to Sweetener. Her new albums have been more successful than her previous. The reasoning behind her success lies beyond the fact that her music is getting better.

One could potentially credit Sweetener and thank u, next’s success to the different vibes and genres that Grande incorporates in her music. For example, her songs are becoming less generic pop-like, and more R&B. However, the majority of her new audience is attracted to the self-growth and emotional maturity reflected in her music. Though these elements are more applicable to people’s lives, the focus of the media lies in trying to decode these messages to find out more about Grande’s love life.

Aside from the obvious value in being open and using music as an emotional outlet,

another major aspect of the entertainment industry is that vulnerability sells. Sweetener and thank u, next were responses to the self-love and growth Grande has experienced in the past year, and naturally, her journey involved other people and past relationships that started and fell apart in the spotlight. One example of Grande’s lyrics exhibiting emotion is in “ghostin” written about Grande’s coping with Mac Miller’s death while being with Pete Davidson. Because of what her lyrics revealed to the public, her album received an exorbitant amount of attention from the media, who heavily analyzed the songs and drew external connections to the lyrics. Because people were already so invested in Grande’s personal life, they loved the vulnerability she expressed in her new album. This media attention served for the album as a form of advertising.

However, this media attention circles back to the relatability of Grande’s new music. The themes that Grande sings about, such as denial, acceptance, self-love, and growth, are ideas people can relate to. Once Grande stepped out of her generic pop zone, she received more attention for the lyrics relating to her personal life, this attention encouraging more people to listen to her music. Ultimately, her openness and vulnerability was used by the media to probe into her personal life, but it also appealed greatly to her audience.