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Ariana Grande’s most recent album “thank u, next” is an emotional rollercoaster that takes you through Grande’s last 18 months of tragedy, heartbreak and loss.

“Thank u, next” was released on Feb. 8, 2019. This is the fifth studio album Grande has released in her career since coming onto the music scene in 2013. 

Her previous album “Sweetener,” which was released in August 2018, was chockfull of positivity, love and happiness. In “no tears left to cry,” Grande sings “Right now I’m in a state of mind, I want to be in like all the time…” portraying that her life is going well around the time of writing the album.

However, Grande’s life took a turn. She experienced a terrorist bombing at one of her concerts, got engaged, called off the wedding and struggled with the pain that came with the death of a past lover. Let’s just say she had plenty to sing about in her new album.

When an artist is writing an album, the goal is to make it personal and connect to the audience, which can be hard. In my opinion, Grande crushed “thank u, next.”

“7 rings,” one of the songs on Grande’s most recent album, has been a huge radio hit but stood out to me as unoriginal compared to all of the other tracks on the album. “7 rings” leans on the song “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music,” which is a song that has been taken and remastered over and over by countless artists.

“7 rings” has caused lots of controversy recently with other rappers and artists. Soulja Boy’s fans called out Grande when they pointed out that her single sounded very similar to a song Soulja Boy released in 2010, “Pretty Boy Swag.”

Grande and Soulja Boy went back and forth on Twitter, and Soulja Boy was not too happy when Grande would not give him credit for the inspiration behind the flow and beat of “7 rings.” After a tweet from Soulja Boy that called Grande a thief, she stopped responding to his tweets. 

Soulja Boy is not the only artist to accuse Grande of copying music. According to People magazine, another rapper Princess Nokia accused Grande of copying her song “Mine” that she released in 2016.

“7 rings” still has meaning behind it and is meant to come across as a way to talk about friendship. Grande tweeted: “Seven rings is jus like…..a flex. Friendship anthem. How the homies WANT u to feel…” 

The last two songs are the two that had the clearest message and biggest impact on me as I listened to them. 

As I mentioned earlier, “thank u, next” is all about growth, love, forgiveness and acceptance. The song hits on all her past relationships with Pete Davidson, Mac Miller, Ricky Alvarez and Big Sean. To me, this was Grande’s way of telling us that she is thankful for her past, even if it hurt at the time. She is happy and ready to move on. I got the feeling that this song connects to people all around the world who have been in similar situations. It sends out a very positive and uplifting message and tells people that they, too, can move on and be happy. 

Reading the title of the last song, “break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored,” made me a little skeptical going in. Was she really telling girls to break up with their boyfriends? 

After watching the music video for the song, it is my understanding that Grande is breaking up with her boyfriend to love herself. This song has a hidden message and a very positive one that is promoting self-love. 

Grande tweeted that this song was all about fun. She just wanted to end the album on a fun note after all the seriousness of the album. 

According to That Grape Juice, a music reviewer, “thank u, next” is Grande’s biggest success so far. The site also said that “in just one week the Grammy winner has rewritten the Billboard history charts on a number of fronts. First, her latest album – ‘thank u, next’ – dominated the Billboard 200, thanks to record-breaking streams (the most of any Pop artist ever).”

Next, she became the first solo artist in history to simultaneously occupy the number one, two and three spots on the Hot 100 with songs “7 rings,” “break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored” and “thank u, next” respectively. Lastly, the songstress can now lay claim to the title of “most concurrent top-40 hits” among females. Besting the title’s previous owner, Cardi B (as she nabbed 9 simultaneous top 40 entries from her debut album “Invasion of Privacy”), Grande’s accomplishment comes as she placed 11 tunes in the same region of the Hot 100.

To me, this album seems authentic. It shows a real-life perspective from someone whose life seems surreal.