Ariana Grande Reaches New Heights with “7 rings”

Republic

On the follow up to her massive "thank u, next," Ariana cuts the crooning and raps about retail therapy as a way to get over a breakup.

Like "thank u," "7 rings" is empowering. She flips the weight of her engagement ring in to friendship rings for "six of her bitches." Ariana is delightfully cocky ("write my own checks like I write what I sing") and absolutely hilarious ("you like my hair? Gee thanks, just bought it!"). Somehow, the entire song is held together by an interpolation of The Sound of Music classic, "My Favorite Things." Ari trades whiskers on kittens for breakfast at Tiffany's over a sparky trap beat.

While the verses and the chorus sound like two separate songs, they are effortlessly held together by Ariana's smooth delivery and confidence. The best part of Ariana's next smash hit? She raps. Known for her whistle tones and show-stealing belts, Ariana elects to spit some rhymes on "7 rings." She skates over the beat like she's been a rapper her entire career and both rap verses are the right mixture of skill and fun.

People will compare the rap verses on "7 rings" to Miley's verses on Mike WiLL Made-It's 2013 track, "23." Here's the deal: Miley sounded unnatural on the verses and she was simply trying too hard to sell a new persona. On "7 rings," Ariana sounds right at home. In fact, she's rapping better than some of the Dolls. Furthermore, Ariana has been hip-hop/rap adjacent for the majority of her career, so this feels like a more natural evolution than Miley's ever could. Regardless, Ariana has another quality song and surefire smash hit on her ends. It's Ariana Grande's world, and we're all just living in it.

SCORE: 80