Why Ariana Grande's "Sweetener" was a disappointment after another

[SJAG 1,597]

Before I even start, I want to say this is not an Ariana Grande hate thread, I love and respect her, I think she's talented and an amazing singer. These are just my opinions about, Sweetener. You can either agree or disagree.

So, we all know Ariana Grande had a very rough time after the Manchester arena bombing. Just after the tragic event, Ariana released a statement, and promptly organized a concert honouring the victims.

From Ariana's comeback, people expected a soulful and heartfelt song about the terrorist attack. The american singer choose a catchy pop song instead, "No Tears Left To Cry". Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad at it, I consider NTLTC one of the best song off of the album, she even referenced Manchester with a bee at the end of the video so I'm not blaming her of anything, I'm just pointing out the fact that some were disappointed by that decision. (She actually has a song on the album dedicated to it, "Get well soon" which is 5:22 in reference to the date of the attack, May 22nd. A meaningful and nice tribute).

The second single from Sweetener wasn't any better. The repetitive and nerve-wracking "The Light is Coming" was a mere failure in my opinion. The song was extremely hyped and described as an uplifting an happy song about finding the light in a dark and sad period. Great, right? Well, not if the song is just a simple line repeated hundreds of times.

And it only gets worse. I'm not saying that "God is a Woman" is a bad song. I actually love it, but once again, the expectation were so high that it turned out to be another disappointment. The song is really good, you can sing along and dance to it, but that's not the point. The song was in fact overhyped, it was everyone's favourite even before it came out.

The controversial title was a bold statement for a women empowering song... at least that was what we were thinking before actually listening to it. "God is a Woman" is the perfect example of a failed attempt to do a song about women power. Why talking about women mental ability and such when you can reduce it to "*** is powerful", right? "God is a Woman" is just another song about sex, nothing else. The religion inspired imagery helped her pretending the song had a meaning and was helpful and empowering.

And that's why "God is a Woman" did not help her being considered a main pop star at all in my opinion. Her young fans opinions don't matter. And is really a shame people are calling her a "Queen" when her work really didn't improve much. This thoughts leads to the point of the thread. I've seen people and critics calling "Sweetener" a mature album, and I couldn't disagree more.

My point is mature contents don't necessarily make an album mature, which is a bit contradictory, but not that much if you think about it. By mature contents I mean sexual themes and strong language, while by a mature album I mean a meaningful, cohesive body of work with thoughtful and smart lyrics, something that "Sweetener" lacks of.

Let's use "Sweetener", the song this time, as an example (But I could literally take any song). You expect the title track to sums up the meaning of the album, and in fact it does. Just by listening to it you immediately know that the entire album will have sex references and shallow lyrics.

And then you get it, get it, get it, get it (ayy)
Hit it, hit it, hit it, hit it (ayy)
Flip it, flip it, flip it
You make me say oh, oh (sheesh, sheesh)
Twist it, twist it, twist it, twist it
Mix it and mix it and mix it and mix it
Kiss it, kiss it, kiss it
You make me say oh, oh (sheesh, sheesh)

I like the way you lick the bowl (sheesh)
Somehow your method touches my soul (sheesh, yeah)

"Sweetener" is one of the songs ruined, I mean produced by Pharell Williams. He made the album sound noisey and messy, adding strange, weird and casual sounds to the songs. Not surprised my favourite songs are the ones he's not involved in ("NTLTC", "GIAW" and "Breathin", just to name a few). And I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling like that, since I even read about Ariana Grande fans boycotting Pharell produced songs.

She has a song dedicated to her new boyfriend Pete Davidson too. Rumor has it the twos barely knew each other when he proposed to her, while high in bed. But Ariana Grande really loves him since he's always on her mouth, in all senses. Pete is not exactly her fans favourite boyfried of hers. His insensitive joke about the Manchester attack had her fans worried and angry, but miss Grande couldn't care less about what they think, but don't try to come for his physical appereance or she will drag you for being rude to him.

So, my conclusion is that Ariana Grande's "Sweetener" doesn't really deserve the praise it's getting. The public and the critics are just hyping her too much in my opinion. The album has a 80 score on Metacritic and a couple of rating around 90.

The highly awaited album disappointed my expectations, but it still sold a lot and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, giving her a #3 song on the Billboard Hot 100 and several worldwide hits.

Let me know what you think about it in the comments.

[MaryJaneHolland 77,348]

Nicely edited OP

[yes and 4,884]

Oh my gosh. You should work in Pitchfork 

[ryanripley 86,575]

i think it's a good album but more importantly, how did you get such a good looking OP?

[SJAG 1,597]

1 minute ago, ryanripley said:

i think it's a good album but more importantly, how did you get such a good looking OP?

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[IAmNotHere1997 25,824]

That's what happens after you release your best album. Born This Way and ARTPOP both were considered like that.

[VOLANTIS 16,378]

SJAG said today I'm just gonna spill some tea and let it flow in the most attractive manner.  

[SJAG 1,597]

1 minute ago, VOLANTIS said:

SJAP said today I'm just gonna spill some tea and let it flow in the most attractive manner.  

[Impostor 4,114]

The album got 80 and amazing videoclips. That means good era to me. The themes/lyrics are kinda shallow but it's Ariana, her singles have always been kinda shallow... so... Still love ha.

[Killa 17,303]

Okay i wanna know how much time it took tonwrite this

Like... if you say 15 min or 20 min i forfeit my life

but yes yes 

britnrys time is way past. If anything else gaga clearly marked the end of that era in pop.

and the industry hasnt adapted well to this new times. They give a bit of whats expected today but its just the whole lame old schtick. Cause its the same people making the records

it clearly doesnt work. As all is underwhelming

[Ryusei 61,025]

I don't know there are just a bunch of tracks that I don't care for like Blazed or Successful.

I LOVE the hook in Sweetener it's so catchy and i like that it's a cute song, there isnt enough of that nowadays you always gotta be tough and sexy.

I expected God is a Woman to have some really cringy lyrics or something so I was very pleasantly surprised when I first heard it. 

Also the light is coming is a very interesting song to me. I think the reception of it was bad because everyone has this expectation of what a song is supposed to be so: a lot of repetition --> bad, no big vocals --> bad, not what was expected of the song --> bad. I don't think enough people listened to the song with an open mind and take it for what it is instead of comparing it with everything. 

everytime, breathin and NTLTC are very nice pop songs and i listen to them frequently. 

And then there is that bunch of songs that aren't offensive to me and I would listen to in the background but to me dont make that big of an impact like R.E.M, borderline and goodnight n go.

And again expectations ruined get well soon for example cause idk everyone wanted some I will always love you huge epic style ballad that is obviously about manchester but like come on you cant expect someone to make a song about something and for it to be a certain way... And rumors (from twitter insiders....) didnt help the case cause OF COURSE ARIANA HAS THIS HUEG BALLAD PLANNED BIGGEST ONE OF ALL TIME NOONE HAS EVER HEARD A SONG THIS EMOTIONAL BEFORE. but it wasn't that and cue the fake disappointment about something that was never promised by anyone who had to do with the production of the album.. 

Overall there is a lightness about the album and that's exactly what it was meant to be, light and happy. A sweetener, it's in the title lol. 

[LordEnigma 11,313]

I feel you but also, it’s just not that deep in the end. I love Ariana and I was expecting a big album that had a huge concept - but it’s just a collection of songs that fall under a theme. Which now that I look at it that way, I’m enjoying it more and more.

[SJAG 1,597]

4 minutes ago, Ryusei said:

Overall there is a lightness about the album and that's exactly what it was meant to be, light and happy. A sweetener, it's in the title lol. 

Yes. That's why I said multiple times the songs are catchy and uplifting, but overall the lyrics are very basic and shallow. I'm not saying that "Sweetener" is a bad album, it's just not my favourite. There's a few song I really enjoy and listen on repeat, and some I just can't stand, a couple of them are just too noisy and have these weird and random sounds. I just don't get why she is so praised when her album is just good, nothing special to be honest. But I guess her fans will buy everything she puts out as long as she keep tweeting ilysm. Her team, on the other hand, was very smart and did a good promo for it, but maybe the expectation they created were both a blessing and a curse.

[NIGHTCRAWLER 6,985]

well I love her singing and her melodies (except on many songs on Sweetener that were produced by Pharell) in general. But is it me or her lyrics barely mean something? I agree GIAW could have been something clever, a real reflection on God and women and how men empowered the world and it has to change etc but at the end I'm not even sure I understood the song... if someone can educate me 

[jayzer 2,507]

tbh i really love that album

ot:lmao the op is like a article