The very early morning of Friday, October 23, was insane. Everybody was going crazy because so many hit and upcoming artists were releasing music. To name just a few of those releases, Ariana Grande returned with her first single from her upcoming album, “positions,” Boys World released their very first single, “Girlfriends,” and Saweetie dropped her long awaited song, “Back To The Streets,” which features Jhené Aiko. However, those are not the only songs that dropped that night, and in this article, I am going to take you on a journey through each release.
- “positions” by Ariana Grande
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Before we get into the beauty of “positions” by Ariana Grande, we need to talk about the momentum behind its release. It is well known that Grande is the queen of pop, so, after the success of Sweetener and thank u, next, fans were left to eagerly anticipate the pop star’s next moves. On October 14, Grande gave fans a very sudden notice that her sixth album would be dropping in the same month. Then on October 17, she posted a video of her typing on a keyboard in slow motion, spelling out the word, “positions.” On the same day, her website was updated to reveal two countdowns, one ending on October 23 and the other ending on October 30. Both countdowns were titled, “positions.” On October 21, Grande officially announced that “positions” would be her first single from her latest album of the same name and that it would be released on October 23. In the same post, she revealed the single cover. All of this made her fans beyond excited and their excitement turned into exuberance on October 22, when she announced that the music video to “positions” would drop the same time as the single does. Now before I get into the music video, I must now talk about the beauty of the song. “positions” is about how Grande would do anything for the man she is in love with; she makes this clear when she sings, “Cause I’ll be / Switchin’ the positions for you.” She puts a twist on this lyric in the music video by displaying herself as the president of the United States, and having her staff be predominantly women-her mom is even featured in the music video. In light of the current political climate, Grande also pays tribute to the United States Postal Service. What is so iconic about this music video is that it dropped just hours after the presidential debate, which must have been intentional.
- “Girlfriends” by Boys World
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Boys World released “Girlfriends” as their first single. Through their song, they basically tribute an ode to the importance of sticking by their girlfriends. If any one their boyfriends does not approve of her girlfriends, then she’ll simply break it off with the man. This is evident in the chorus, “Baby I can love you or love you not / Hope you’re down with the friends I got / But if you’re not gotta cut you off / Cause you know girls stan girlfriends over boyfriends.” The content of the music video reflects the song’s message. The girls play ‘Girlfriends Hotline’ phone representatives and are seen giving callers self-empowerment messages-they also do it in different languages! Way to go Boys World!
- “Back to the Streets” by Saweetie featuring Jhené Aiko
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Saweetie’s “Back to the Streets” features Jhené Aiko. The song is different from a majority of Saweetie’s other songs as it does not really contain that umph you hear in them; the song is more of a soft, calm beat. The song basically states, if your man ain’t treating you right, you have to throw him back to the streets. This is reflected in the lyric, “My ex used to act like he owned me / Ain’t enough just to treat me like a trophy / I had that, passed that, knew I had to trash that/Bounced on his a–, turned that boy into a flashback.” What a great empowerment song for the ladies!
- “Sweet Melody” by Little Mix
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The British girl group, Little Mix, dropped “Sweet Melody,” the fifth single off of their upcoming album, Confetti. The song is upbeat, and while the verses start out calmly, it builds up momentum to the chorus. In the song, the girls sing about how the time spent with their former man was a sweet melody. It is depicted in the lyrics such as, “He used to sing me sweet melodies / He played me, made me believe it was real love / Sang me sweet melodies / But the day he did me wrong / The song couldn’t go on and on and on.” In the music video, the girls look magnificent in each of their elaborate black attires. They also give viewers a delicious, memorable taste of their immaculate choreography. Little Mix, once again, proved just how great of an artist they are.
- “Universe” (featuring Kehlani) by Ty Dolla $ign
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Ty Dolla $ign dropped his album, Featuring Ty Dolla $ign, and one of the songs in the album is called “Universe,” which features Kehlani. The song is upbeat, yet simultaneously, calming, which I feel helps you take in its message. The song is about being gifted a partner when you feel like that you don’t deserve one, thus making it feel like the universe wants you to win. This is reflected in some of the lyrics from the chorus, “The universe must want me to win / I’m happier than I ever been, ever been, yeah / Feeling this good should be a sin, yeah / The universe must want me to win, yeah.” Ty and Kehlani really make this song so enjoyable.
- “Cupid’s Curse” (featuring Kehlani) by Phora
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Another song that dropped on October 23 which Kehlani is featured in is “Cupid’s Curse” by Phora. The song is calm and mellow, which perfectly matches its sad message. The song discusses having a partner who has changed so much, that you wonder if they’re even the same person anymore. The lover wants to fix things, but you’re convinced it’s not worth it. This is reflected in the lyrics such as, “I ain’t ever seen you before / Where’d you come from? / I ain’t ever met you / Lookin’ back, we were one / Now I don’t understand you / Showin’ up ain’t enough / You say it’s love, yeah, yeah / Bet you don’t wanna be here.” What an excellent collaboration!
These are my takes on the songs that came out on October 23. I really love them, and have had them on repeat since. I hope you check them out and that you love them as much as I do.