It has been a long 3 and a half years since Ariana Grande's last album Positions was released and the anticipation for her next era is certainly high. That's why when Grande announced "yes, and?" as the lead single for her upcoming 7th studio album, the Arianators (Ariana Grande's fans) went crazy predicting what this new age of Ariana's music was going to sound like. Hyperpop? Rock? Hip-Hop? R&B? Soul? Someone even predicted a country turn for the pop superstar? However, I don't think too many people predicted the house, ballroom, electropop, Madonna-esque vibe of "yes, and?" and that's what makes it so wonderful!
What interestingly makes "yes, and?" so unique for Grande is the simplicity and ease in which it all flows together. The song is structured like a normal pop hit but this song coming from Grande makes it a little bit more than that. With lyrics such as "Your business is yours and mine is mine" and a production that is extremely satisfying yet abundantly simple, one has to wonder if perhaps Grande wanted to break free from these traits of her previous singles. With "thank u, next," "34+35" and "no tears left to cry," the songs either had stellar vocal performances or very witty and stand-out lyrics that matched the traditional Ariana style. However, "yes, and?" (albeit with an amazing vocal performance) does not fit either of those categories and represents Ariana exploring a truly new sound that we haven't heard from her yet.
Beyonce's 2022 album Renaissance revived the ballroom house genre of music and brought it back into the mainstream. It would be very ignorant to not recognize the similarities that "yes, and" shares with Renaissance as both share the hyperpop, energetic and dance production. "Yes, and?" could literally be the epitome of a runway song. Just from the first 30-second intro (without a single lyric from Grande), you can already picture RuPaul walking down the runway to this beat. Of course, the song develops to be much more than just a runway song, however, its strength lies in the fact that it doesn't try to do too much. This isn't a "no tears left to cry" or "breathin" because this is just Ariana living her life, having fun, and and trying something new. She clearly is enjoying herself and feeling very creatively inspired. "Yes and?" is the product of this feeling and it doesn't need to be some heavy-hitter emotion-packed song because it is just a fun and perhaps overtly simple song that we can all dance to and scream "Be your own fucking best friend."
However, this isn't to say "yes, and?" isn't an amazing and clever idea from Grande. She sounds just as amazing as always on this track and her high notes are, of course, crystal clear and a major standout. rThe lyrics themselves - while not the most mind-bending or original - are clearly very personal to Grande and represent the tumultuous emotions she has been going through. The "Fuck the haters" song is nothing new to the pop music scene, however, Grande cleverly transforms this trope into these two simple words that have great potential to go viral and be on everyone's instagram captions.
"Yes, and?" might not be groundbreaking for pop in general, but it certainly is for Grande as she delves into a new sound that is bound to excite fans. It's also amazing to just hear Ariana happy and feeling good about herself! I'm sure we all hope this "eternal sunshine" continues on into her brand new album March 8th.
Comments