It’s no secret that Ariana Grande is a queen in the music scene right now. Just five months after her most recent album, Sweetener, was released, she revealed the track list for her newest album. She started recording her 5thstudio album, Thank U, Next, in Oct. of 2018 and it is slated to come out on Feb. 8, 2019 (according to Grande’s most recent Instagram post.) The album will have 12 songs, three of which have already been dropped, “Thank U, Next,” “7 Rings,” and “Imagine.”
Surprisingly, Ariana’s first No. 1 single in her career was “Thank U, Next,” which debuted in that top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. And according to MTV, her newest single “7 Rings” was streamed 14.96 million times on Spotify within its first 24 hours of being released. This set a world record by over four million streams, topping the previous record-holder Mariah Carey’s song, “All I Want for Christmas is You.” If this is the standard the rest of the album will live up to, I can’t wait for it to drop.
Among the 12 titles that were released, a few of them really stand out. One of these is “NASA,” which could definitely be about space, but E! News has a different theory. Some fans pointed out that Grande’s ex-fiancé, Pete Davidson, wore a NASA sweatshirt when they made their red-carpet debut as a couple at the 2018 VMAs. So maybe we’re getting a ballad about Pete? Or some juicy details about the breakup? Either way, I’m here for it.
Another title that stands out is, “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.” We all know that Ariana is unapologetically herself, but this title seems especially savage. I can’t wait to see what she does with this song, and neither can her fans who are talking about it all over Twitter. (The following tweets are perfect examples of the fans’ excitement about this song title: @merelynora, @maggymerms, @normallywaves.)
She also shared a preview of her song, “Needy” with a short video clip from the recording studio. The lyrics say, “I can be needy, tell me how good it feels to be needed,” something we can all relate to (even if we don’t want to admit it). Some of her fans are begging for her to release the song before the rest of her album, and a few have even predicted that it will be her next No. 1 single.
But, with all of the excitement about the new track list and the album debut approaching in a few short weeks, there has been some controversy with the hit, “7 Rings.” Princess Nokia, a Puerto Rican rapper, has accused Grande of stealing her song, “Mine,” saying, “Ain’t that the little song I made about brown women and their hair? Hmm. Sounds about white,” on Instagram. She has also been accused of plagiarizing Soulja Boy’s song “Pretty Boy Swag” and of being racially insensitive with her lyrics, “You like…my hair? / Gee thanks, just bought it.”
Despite the accusations and controversies, I’m counting down the days until the “Thank U, Next” album is released. Feb. 8, we’re ready for you.