Etcetera OG ✎ COMPLETE

; ariana grande "sweetener" album review

         Hi, it me.

         So, if you were paying attention to what I was posting in June (lol rip July), you'd know that I planned to post my review of Bebe Rexha's Expectations album. But I got lazy and that didn't happen, so now almost two months later, here I am with a review for Ariana Grande's Sweetener instead.

         Fear not. I will still do the Bebe review because YOU KNOW I LOVE THAT WOMAN. And I want to do that review because I still have thoughts and opinions.

         Anyway, so yeah, we're going to talk about Sweetener for now. I want to preface my review with a disclaimer: I'm not a huge fan of Pharrell Williams, and I'm not a huge fan of R&B music. I don't hate it by any means, but I just don't usually listen to it and I tend to not enjoy it when I do. SO, this album is heavily influenced by both R&B and Pharrell (I think he produced some tracks), and in case I dislike something...I'm sorry. I hate me too.

         I did, however, love Dangerous Woman if you couldn't tell from the review I did of that album, and I love Ariana in general, so this review shouldn't be a complete attack on her as an artist, fear not.

         This isn't a first-listen review. I listened to it once the night it dropped, half asleep and literally in bed, so the past few days I've been giving each song a few more listens to let them fully settle, otherwise this review would have been a Reputation review 2.0 (3.0? Since I did a 2.0 already? Whatever).

         Alright, let's get into it.

01: RAINDROPS (AN ANGEL CRIED) – 10/10

This is so lovely. I know Ariana must have said some things about all the tracks, because a lot of people on Tumblr know what most of these are about, but I'm pretty in the dark. I think I heard something about this being a (short) cover of a Four Seasons song, but wherever it came from, I loved it. Weirdly enough, the first time she posted something on Instagram of herself singing this, I...didn't? Like it? I thought she was going way too overboard with the runs and I just didn't understand why it was so short or what was The Point, but I like it now. Like I feel none of those negative things anymore. I love that there's no music and there's just her voice, and I love how smooth she sounds, and just. Yes. Great opening track. I won't do favorite lyrics because there hardly are any.

02: BLAZED feat. Pharrell Williams – 7.5/10

Shockingly, I don't hate this. The first time I heard it I did, but after hearing it on shuffle a few times and even hearing it now, it's not my least favorite song on the album by any means. It's a bop, really. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but...I actually think Pharrell's parts are some of my favorites. It's fun and jazzy overall (jazzy not in the genre sense of the word but just because it feels like the right word, I don't know), but his parts kind of do a good job of rounding it out and maintaining it, if that makes sense? Sometimes I get a little lost in it, like the structure confuses me – I'm not entirely sure what the chorus is or the pre-chorus or, you know, any of that. So with him there's some structure. Favorite lyric: Sleep if you want / and wake up in love again

03: THE LIGHT IS COMING feat. Nicki Minaj – 5/10

Okay so I only like this song about half of the time, bottom line. I keep trying to give it lots of chances so that I can finally Get It, but it's literally just not happening. No matter how often I listen to it. I hate the strange music/noises, and some of the lyrics in the verses don't always make sense to me, and Nicki's verse sounds like it doesn't even fit? On its own it's great, but with the entire song, I'm just...confused. And I wish she came back in with either another verse or even some moments here and there. Man, I don't know. The only part I genuinely like all of the time is the way Ariana's voice sounds when she says "the light is coming to give back everything the darkness stole." So that's where I'm at with this song. I'm sorry I'm not one of those people that Gets It, but I tried. Favorite lyric: Why do we have chemistry / with a need for speed / doin' things that trouble clings to / and burns off our wings