Positions

This article is about the album. For its title track, see Positions (song).

PositionsStudio album by Ariana Grande
General information
Release Date	October 30, 2020 (Standard edition) February 19, 2021 (Deluxe edition)
Recorded	January - October 2020
Studio	Grande's house (Los Angeles) Champagne Therapy (Los Angeles) Windmark Studios (Los Angeles) Jungle City Studios (New York)
Genre	R&B/Soul, Trap-Pop
Length	Standard: 41:07 Deluxe: 51:48
Label	Republic Records
Producer(s)	Ariana Grande (exec.), Scooter Braun (exec.), Tommy Brown (also exec.), London on da Track, Mr. Franks
Studio albums chronology
Previous	Thank U, Next
Current	Positions
Singles
1. "Positions" Released: October 23, 2020 2. "34+35" Released: October 30, 2020 3. "POV" Released: March 23, 2021

Positions is the sixth studio album by Ariana Grande. It was released on October 30, 2020, through Republic Records. The album was recorded between January and October 2020.

A deluxe edition of the album was released on February 19, 2021. It features five bonus tracks including the remix of "34+35" featuring Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat.

Background

In 2019, Ariana Grande began working on the album. On March 24, 2020, she posted a 45 second leak snippet of the song titled "Nasty from Positions" on her social media. On September 14, 2020, Grande posted a snippet of a song that was later revealed to be "Positions", on her social media with the caption "brb". On October 14, 2020, she revealed on Twitter that the album would be released the same month. Three days later, Grande posted a slow-motion video of her typing the word "positions" on a keyboard and launched two countdowns on her website counting down to October 23, 2020 and October 30, 2020. The album is mainly influenced by her love life, and her relationship with Dalton Gomez, her husband,who she began dating in January 2020.

Cover art

On October 23, 2020, Grande revealed the album's cover art. Limited physical editions of Positions were issued DTC with two other cover artworks, that feature the same photograph as the original, except Grande is looking at the camera, with repositioned hands and face angle.

Deluxe edition

On February 1, 2021, Grande announced a Deluxe Edition of Positions, featuring four new tracks and the remix of "34+35" featuring Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion On February 9, 2021, Grande announced on her social media that the Positions Deluxe will be released on February 19. Grande confirmed the four new tracks to be "Someone Like U (Interlude)", "Test Drive", "Worst Behavior" and "Main Thing" in the countdown to the premiere of the "34+35" remix music video.

Singles

The lead single and title track, "Positions", was released on October 23, 2020.

The second single, "34+35", was released on October 30, 2020. It impacted US Pop radio as an official single that same day. A remix of the song featuring American rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat was released on January 16, 2021, accompanied by its lyric video.

The third single, "POV", was released on March 23rd, 2021. The 30th April the official lyric video has comes out featuring the dancers Cory Graves and Brian Nicholson. The choregraphy was made by Graves and the Nicholson's twins.

Critical Reception

The album received favorable reviews (despite not breaking any new ground) from music critics. Alexa Camp of "Slant" believed it did not offer enough new ideas or innovation. "Too many of the songs on Positions rely on the same mid-tempo trap-pop that populated Grande's previous two efforts, particularly Thank U, Next. What once seemed refreshing in its minimalism is quickly starting to feel insubstantial. Editor Hannah Mylrea describes it as "a pleasant listen, as an introduction to the next era of Grande’s career, it’s solid, but you can’t help but feel it’s missing some of her trademark sparkle." Compared to her previous albums , Mylrea states how "strength and perseverance threads throughout ‘Positions’, an album that finds Grande thriving. Positions "lacks the megawatt pop belters of previous releases" where The Guardian's Alexis Petridis agrees, writing: "Positions deals in polished professionalism, not pulse-quickening excitement. There isn't an obvious standout track...the overall effect is of individual tracks bleeding into one long slow-motion shot" rating the album 3 out of 5 stars. While the album receives praise for it's vocals and musical arrangements, there's much to be desired lyrically. Critics such as Alim Kheraj of i-D highlight the raunchiness of the album's entirety, "Ariana has one thing on her mind: sex. So much sex, the subsequent 13 tracks are some of the horniest songs that Ariana has ever released." Kate Soloman of The Telegraph agrees that "There are no tentpole hits, no obvious hooks and far too many words crammed into 14 relatively short and sometimes samey songs. But it explores new territory for the singer: new relationships, a new sound, a new sense of self." However, critics such as The New Statesman's Emily Bootle, highlight the positives, "Positions is about emerging on the other side... with "no dud tracks". She emphasizes Grande's confidence and maturity with a sense of individual identity in "creating era-capturing music."

Commercial performance

Positions debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 with 174,000 album-equivalent units, of which 42,000 were pure album sales. This is Grande's fifth studio album to debut at the top of the chart since her previous Dangerous Woman debuted and peaked at No. 2, while Yours Truly, My Everything, Sweetener and Thank U, Next all debuted at No. 1 in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2019 respectively. In addition, Positions earned the second-largest streaming week for a non-R&B/hip-hop or Latin album in 2020 in the US (173.54 million).

It also debuted at No. 1 on the UK Albums chart, racking up 27,500 chart sales.

On the issue date November 14, 2020, every song on the album was charted on the Hot 100. The highest peaked song is "Positions" debuting at number 1. The lowest song being "Love Language" debuting at number 75.

Trivia

• The first song recorded for the album was "Shut Up".
• The longest song is "Off The Table", with The Weeknd at 3 minutes and 59 seconds, while the shortest song is "Someone Like U (Interlude)" at 1 minute and 16 seconds.
• This is Grande's second album on which she co-wrote every track, the first being her previous Thank U, Next.
• Off The Table was recorded entirely at her home studio
• Ariana almost scrapped Positions Deluxe.
• One of the scrapped positions song was a collab with Travis Scott and Nicki Minaj, which was scrapped because Ariana felt it would have been to many collaborations on the album
• Positions surpassed 1.1 billion streams in 63 days.
• Positions has over 2.3 billion streams on Spotify. It's Grande's 5th album to achieve this and her second fastest behind “thank u, next”.
  • Positions is the 4th most streamed album released in 2020 on Spotify.
• The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200. It is Grande's fifth album to debut at the top of the charts.
• The album has remained in the top 10 for 18 weeks on Billboard 200 in 2021.
• Positions is the second album by Grande to continuously chart on the Worldwide Apple Music Albums Charts after Thank U, Next.
• This is Grande's first album to have a deluxe edition not release at the same time as the standard edition, being released just over three months after the standard edition.
• Grande said that footage was recorded when making the album, but she doesn't know if she wants to make it a big thing, or leave it as little like a post on Instagram.
• Positions has been BRIT certified gold.
• Positions has been certified gold in the UK for selling over 100,000 units.
• Positions remains inside the top 10 on US Apple Music. (105+ days)
• Positions is one of the most streamed albums in the top 20 that was released in 2020 on Spotify.
• Positions is the biggest debut for a female deluxe album in Spotify History with a total of 16.9 Million streams.
• All four tracks on the Deluxe edition peaked in the top 5 on U.S. iTunes Charts. This is a first in Grande's career.
• Positions peaked at #1 on Apple Music US Chart.
• Positions ranked #1 for two weeks on the Billboard 200.
• Positions (Deluxe) accumulated a total of 86,101,005 streams within its first week on Spotify.
• Positions is the most streamed female album of 2021 so far Globally and in the United States.
• Positions' has now spent 15 total weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard 200.
• Positions spends its 30th week on the Billboard 200.
• Positions has sold over 1 million total units in the US.
• Grande announced that for the 6 month anniversary of Positions that she would host a giveaway of a limited number of signed deluxe vinyl.
• Grande wrote "Someone Like U (Interlude)" and "Main Thing" herself.

Gallery

Album cover without text

Casettes

LP Vinyl

Target Exclusive

Walmart Exclusive

Urban Outfitters Exclusive Vinyl

A teaser of the Positions: Deluxe (2021) tracklist.

The official Positions Deluxe tracklist.

Limited Edition Cover 1

Limited Edition Cover 2

Photoshoot

BTS

Booklet

Track listing

Standard Edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Shut Up"	Ariana Grande, Tayla Parx, Michael Foster	Brown, Johnson, Mr. Franks, Sayles	2:37
2.	"34+35"	Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét, Tayla Parx, Scott Nicholson	TBHits, Johnson, Mr. Franks, Xavi	2:53
3.	"Motive" (featuring Doja Cat)	Ariana Grande, Amala Dlamini, Nija Charles, Victoria Monét	Murda Beatz, TBHits, Mr. Franks, Joseph L'Étranger	2:47
4.	"Just Like Magic"	Ariana Grande, Priscilla Hamilton	Shea Taylor, TBHits, Mr. Franks	2:29
5.	"Off The Table" (featuring The Weeknd)	Ariana Grande, Abel Tesfaye	Shintaro, TBHits, Mr. Franks, Sayles	3:59
6.	"Six Thirty"	Ariana Grande, Priscilla Hamilton	TBHits, Mr. Franks, Nami, Taylor	3:03
7.	"Safety Net" (featuring Ty Dolla $ign)	Ariana Grande, Tyrone Griffin, Jr., Leon Thomas III	The Rascals, TBHits, Keys Open Doors	3:28
8.	"My Hair"	Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét, Tayla Parx	Scott Storch, TBHits, Jones, Anderson	2:38
9.	"Nasty"	Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét	The Rascals, TBHits, Nami, Sayles	3:20
10.	"West Side"	Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét	TBHits, Xavi, Ammar Junedi	2:12
11.	"Love Language"	Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét, Tayla Parx, Kam Parker	TBHits, Parker, Sayles	2:59
12.	"Positions"	Ariana Grande, Nija Charles, Angelina	London On Da Track, TBHits, Mr. Franks	2:52
13.	"Obvious"	Ariana Grande, Ryan Tedder, Nija Charles	TBHits, Mr. Franks, Sayles, Josh Conerly	2:26
14.	"POV"	Ariana Grande, Tayla Parx	TBHits, Mr. Franks, Oliver "Junior" Frid	3:21
Total length:				41:07

Deluxe edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Someone Like U (Interlude)"	Ariana Grande	Brown, Sayles, Parker, Wish, Wansel	1:16
16.	"Test Drive"	Ariana Grande, Tayla Parx, Victoria Monét	Foster, Mr. Franks, Brown, & Murda Beatz	2:02
17.	"34+35" (featuring Doja Cat & Megan Thee Stallion) (Remix)	Ariana Grande, Amala Zandila Dlamini, Megan Pete, Scott Nicholson, Tayla Parx, Victoria Monét	Mr. Franks, Johnson, Brown, Xavi	3:02
18.	"Worst Behavior"	Ariana Grande, Tayla Parx	Brown, Franks & Parker	2:04
19.	"Main Thing"	Ariana Grande	Tommy Brown, Franks, Xavi,	2:09
Total length:				51:48