Year of the Grande

Ariana Grande ended 2018 with a bang — and started 2019 with an even bigger one. Most Ariana fans (including me) thought her chart-topping fourth album, “Sweetener,” was all we were getting from her last year. Man, were we wrong.

At around midnight on Nov. 3, Twitter revealed that Grande had surprise-released her future No. 1 single, “thank u, next.” Let’s just say I screamed a little. Upon playing the song, the harmonic synths brought a sweet and soft sound to my ears, but the expository lyrics soon broke the innocence that the song introduced.

I stood in my hallway listening — jaw fully dropped — as she called out every one of her exes. I couldn’t help but dance to the catchy beat as she shooed away her past life. Little did I know, this anthem would only be the first of three singles that showcase her fresh, unapologetic new approach to the music industry.

During second hour on Thursday, Dec. 13, a new post from Republic Records — Grande’s record label — surfaced. It was a picture of a mostly black screen with the Japanese word for “imagine.” Tapping on the picture revealed that Ariana was tagged, and I suppressed a yelp as I realized new material would be dropping at midnight.

Obviously I stayed up to wait for it. At exactly 11:00 p.m. (midnight EST), I refreshed my Apple Music page to see her new single pop up on my screen. The provocative beat that starts the song proved to me that this song would be one of the best of her career. The lyrics create a soft, fantasy-like landscape that tells a sweet story of her desire for love. The piercing whistle tones near the end of the track only confirmed the fantasy.

When the “thank u, next” video dropped, every Arianator knew that the beginning of the visual included the instrumental of her next single. Twitter blew up with replies from fans begging her to reveal the release date and name of her next song, but the only information we got was the name, “7 rings.” Fans didn’t know what to expect until the week of Jan. 14. Teasers and spoilers and clips were all over Grande’s social media accounts — I speak for all fans when I say we were going nuts.

Once again, my five hours of sleep were worth it. The song dropped on the late night of Jan. 17, and I knew every word by the next morning. My mother was more than annoyed with the pinging introduction of the track, but nevertheless I played it at least fifteen more times that morning.

It gave me life. The entire song was a flex on basically everyone. The “Sound of Music” sample also added another layer to the song that was almost sarcastic, using such a well-known and classic melody to deliver a message that was more than risque. When the song was over, I felt like I needed to run to Tiffany and Co. and buy seven diamond rings for myself.

The culmination of the release of Grande’s singles happened on Jan. 21. One Tweet from Ariana said it all: “cover, track list, preorder friday.” At this point I knew that my year was going to be a great one. More new material means much more dancing in my room at 1:00 a.m.

2019 is going to be the year of Ariana Grande — just you wait.