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Sweetener (song)

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"Sweetener"
Song by Ariana Grande
from the album Sweetener
ReleasedAugust 17, 2018
Recorded2016
StudioMXM (Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length3:28
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Pharrell Williams
Sweetener chronology
"God Is a Woman"
(5) 		"Sweetener"
(2018) 		"Successful"
(7)

"Sweetener" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer Ariana Grande from her fourth studio album of the same name, released in 2018. It was written by Grande and Pharrell Williams, who also produced the track. In terms of music "Sweetener" is a 90's hip hop soul song that contains trap and neo soul elements. Lyrically it contains messages of care free and empowerment.


Background and release

Pharrell Williams co-wrote and produced the track.

It was written by Ariana Grande and Pharrell Williams who also handled the production. Grande's vocals were recorded by Sam Holland and Noah Passovoy at MXM Studios in Los Angeles, California, with Jeremy Lertola providing recording engineer assistance.[2] Phill Tan mixed the track, and Josh Cadwin was the audio engineer.[2] with Andrew Coleman and Mark Larson as the recording engineer. Randy Merrill later mastered the song at Sterling Sound in New York City, New York.[2]

The song was first teased in Grande's No Tears Left To Cry music video, along with other songs.[3][4][5][6] Grande posted a picture of herself listening to the song on her instagram story.[7] On July 21, 2018, a paparazzi leaked a snippet of Grande playing the song in her car, later that day Grande confirmed the snippet on her Twitter.[8][9]

Composition and lyrics

"Sweetener" is a hip hop soul song that contains a trap beat.[10] It runs for a total duration off three minutes and twenty-eight seconds.[11] The song was the first Grande wrote for Sweetener.[12] Lyrically, the song talks about self care and empowerment while she sings directly for her lover. It contains double entendres in the song as well.[13] She sings the lyrics "When life deals us cards / Make everything taste like it is salt / Then you come through like the sweetener you are." She symbolised empowerment.[14] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is composed in the key of E Major with a tempo of 120 beats per minute. Grande's vocals range from the note of F♯3 to D5.[15]

The New York Times's Jon Pareles wrote, "The sacred-secular juxtapositions continue in the title song, a Pharrell Williams production that switches between gospelly piano chords — as Ms. Grande praises how her man can 'bring the bitter taste to a halt' — and more dissonant hip-hop as she enjoys how 'you make me say 'oh!''."[16] Taylor Weatherby of Billboard called the song "'90s-inspired".[17] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis said, "the title track offers a bizarre, gripping splice of earthy Carole King-ish singer-songwriter piano ballad with Migos-inspired hip-hop, complete with onomatopoeic vocal interjections".[18] Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic said the song "gutsily blends the sensibilities of commencement speeches with that of Lil Pump".[19]

Critical reception

Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone called the song a "bouncy, almost wickedly catchy highlight" on the album.[20] In his review of the album, NME's Douglas Greenwood wrote, "There's a telling audacity to the title track. Arriving midway through the album, 'Sweetener' sees Grande sing effervescently about 'letting the sweetener in our hearts' to 'bring that bitterness to a halt', before she ushers in a trap breakdown thats sounds like Metro Boomin messing with The Little Mermaid soundtrack."[21] Chris DeVille of Stereogum said, "The title track is the sort of modernized throwback soul tune Meghan Trainor might release, but rendered tastefully and produced with the detail-rich minimalism of Spoon's Kill the Moonlight."[1]

Charts

Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[22] 43
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[23] 44
France (SNEP)[24] 183
Hungary (Single Top 40)[25] 20
Ireland (IRMA)[26] 15
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[27] 77
New Zeeland (Recorded Music NZ)[28] 40
Portugal (AFP)[29] 67
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[30] 96
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[31] 22
US Billboard Hot 100[32] 55

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Premature Evaluation: Ariana Grande 'Sweetener'". Stereogum. 2018-08-20. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Sweetener (CD). Ariana Grande. Republic Records. 2018. p. 5. B0028815-02.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ "Everything We Know About Ariana Grande's New Song 'No Tears Left to Cry'". Billboard. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  4. ^ "Ariana Grande Shares "No Tears Left To Cry" & Music Video". iHeart Radio. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  5. ^ "Ariana Grande teases new music: 'no tears left to cry'". BBC. April 18, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  6. ^ "Ariana Grande's 'No Tears Left To Cry' Video Pays Tribute To Manchester". Paper. April 20, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  7. ^ "sweetener:)". Twitter. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  8. ^ ".@ArianaGrande are you Literally listening so loud to #Sweetener". Twitter. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  9. ^ "sweetener". Twitter. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  10. ^ "Sweetener- Ariana Grande". AllMusic. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  11. ^ "Sweetener by Ariana Grande on Apple Music - iTunes". Apple Music. 2018-08-17. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  12. ^ Youngs, Ian; Rumble, Taylor-Dior (2018-08-17). "Ariana Grande's Sweetener: The stories behind the songs". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  13. ^ "Ariana Grande's Sweetener: A Track-by-Track Review". Pride. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  14. ^ "Ariana Grande "Sweetener"". Genius. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  15. ^ "sweetener By Ariana Grande - Digital Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  16. ^ "Ariana Grande Sails Above Sorrow on 'Sweetener'". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  17. ^ "6 Reasons Ariana Grande's 'Sweetener' Is Her Most Uplifting Album Yet". Billboard. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  18. ^ Petridis, Alexis (2018-08-17). "Ariana Grande: Sweetener review – pop's ponytailed paragon gets weird". The Guardian. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  19. ^ Kornhaber, Spencer (2018-08-23). "Ariana Grande's Weird Take on Love". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  20. ^ Spanos, Brittany (2018-08-20). "Review: Ariana Grande Finds Serenity and Has Some Fun on ' Sweetener'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  21. ^ "Ariana Grande – 'Sweetener' review". NME. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  22. ^ "ARIA Chart Watch #487". auspOp. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Ariana Grande Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  24. ^ "Top Singles (téléchargement + streaming) - SNEP". SNEP (in French). 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  25. ^ lightmedia.hu. "Single (track) Top 40 lista - Hivatalos magyar slágerlisták". zene.slagerlistak.hu. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  26. ^ Hung, Steffen. "irishcharts.com - Discography Ariana Grande". www.irish-charts.com. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  27. ^ "Ariana Grande - Sweetener". 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2018-11-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  28. ^ "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". THE OFFICIAL NZ MUSIC CHART. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  29. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Portuguese Charts - Discography Ariana Grande". portuguesecharts.com. Retrieved 2018-11-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  30. ^ "Ariana Grande - Discography". www.sverigetopplistan.se. Retrieved 2018-11-16. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  31. ^ "Ariana Grande | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
  32. ^ "Ariana Grande Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
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