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This article is about the album. For its title track, see Sweetener (song).
I love to sing, you know, and like prove a point when I'm like, I'm like, look what I can do but also, like, it's cool that this is way more about, like, the lyrical content and it's like a sweeter, more mature side of my voice. I feel like it's like using newer parts of my range that I don't get to showcase.

Ariana Grande on her fourth album

Sweetener (commonly abbreviated as SW or SWT) is the fourth studio album by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released on August 17, 2018, through Republic Records.[1] Primarily a pop and R&B record, Sweetener incorporates elements of trap, neo soul, hip hop, and dance, complimented by Grande's expansive harmonies and honey-sweet vocal tone. Half of the album contains production by Grande's longtime friends and collaborators, Tommy Brown, Ilya Salmanzadeh, and Max Martin, while the other half was produced by legendary American producer, singer, and rapper Pharrell Williams. Sweetener was created between June 2016 and July 2018[2] and explores themes of womanhood, romance, unhealthy relationships, anxiety, and perseverance.

Sweetener received critical acclaim upon its release, favoring the experimental nature of its production. Some critics considered it a vital record in Grande's career due to its subject matter . It won Best Pop Vocal Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, scoring Grande her first Grammy Award.

Background

In May, 2016, Grande released her third studio album Dangerous Woman (2016), which was met with generally positive reviews and commercial success. Work on her then-upcoming fourth studio album was soon announced later that month on social media.[3] Throughout the year, Grande would continue to post snippets of new songs she was working on, most notably "My Way", "Sober", and "She Got Her Own" (later released in 2019 as part of the Charlie's Angels soundtrack under the name "Got Her Own"). Other songs were teased as well, including the album's eventual title track on November 5, 2016, when the singer posted an image of her in the studio to Instagram with the caption "sweetener".

A few days later, on November 13, 2016, Grande stated on Snapchat that she had finished her fourth album. Later, she clarified by saying, "I didn't mean to make an album, and I don't know if it's done at all, but I just have a bunch of songs that I really really like. I've been working a lot and have been creating and feeling inspired."[4][5][6] On January 10, 2017, Grande confirmed the album's completion once again on Twitter, though she eventually removed the post.[7]

On March 5, 2017, Grande confirmed during the soundcheck Q&A portion of her Dangerous Woman Tour show in Toronto that the songs she had previously teased ("She Got Her Own", "My Way" and "Sober") wouldn't be on the album. She later stated said that she wanted to have 10 tracks on the album.[8] The next day, on March 6, 2017, Grande confirmed during a Q&A that she had been working with Pharrell Williams for several months.[9]

Throughout the rest of the year, various members on Grande's team, as well as current collaborators, started to reveal information about the then-upcoming album; Scooter Braun, Grande's manager at the time, told Variety that the album has a more mature sound.[10] In an interview with LA Times, Pharrell Williams said, “The things that [Ariana] has to say on this album, it's pretty next-level.”[11] On December 31, 2017, Grande shared a snippet from the album on her Instagram, which was later revealed to be "get well soon".[12] The post was captioned "see you next year", and was followed by a brief social media hiatus from Grande.

On April 17, 2018, Grande ended her hiatus and announced that the album's lead single, "no tears left to cy", would be released on April 20, 2018.[13] An accompanying music video directed by Dave Meyers premiered on YouTube that same day to critical acclaim. It explores a concept of disorientation in life, and the complexities and disillusionment of the world. The video teased some of the upcoming tracks to be featured on the album, including "R.E.M", "God is a woman", "successful", the title track, "breathin", "borderline", and the last-minute album scrap, "You".

She later appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on May 1, 2018, where she formally announced the album's title, Sweetener, and that it would be released that summer. She further explained the meaning behind the title, "It's kind of about, like, bringing light to a situation, or to someone's life, or somebody else who brings light to your life, or sweetening the situation." In that same Jimmy Fallon appearance, Grande revealed the titles for "raindrops" and "the light is coming." A May 2018 cover article in Time magazine, it was revealed that, for the first time with this album, Grande "took the lead on writing". On May 25, 2018, Grande announced that she had added more songs to the album last-minute, increasing the total track count to fifteen instead of ten.[14] Later in the month, she revealed that there would be three collaborations: Missy Elliott, Nicki Minaj and Williams.

AG4-tracklist-1

Piece of paper from the music video for "No Tears Left To Cry" showing the tracks featured in Sweetener.

In early June 2018, Grande announced during her set at Wango Tango that the album would be available for pre-order on June 20, and "the light is coming", featuring Nicki Minaj, would be released as a promotional single along with it. The second single, "God is a woman", was announced to be released on July 20, 2018, however, on July 12, Grande surprised fans by announcing that the single would be released the following day. Prior to the album's release, Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic commented that the first three singles from the album "[spark] with a sense of defiance and rattled mortality ... [a] trifecta of pseudo-spiritualism and sneaky innovation. ... Grande's music and videos radiate [intoxicating, unworried confidence]".

Recording

All throughout 2016, Grande posted several images and videos of her in the studio to her social media accounts. Various song snippets, most notibly "My Way" and "Sober", were shared as well. Towards the end of the year she shared on Snapchat that she was "almost done" with her fourth album. Though, this was later invalidated as she would continue to document verious studio sessions throughout 2017.

On December 13, 2017, old photos of Grande in the studio surfaced on Twitter. To shut down rumors about them being recent, Grande posted actual recent photos of herself working on the album on her Instagram story.

On June 7, 2018, Grande revealed that "sweetener" was the oldest song on the album.[2] She also revealed that the last song to be recorded was an interlude (later revealed to be titled "pete davidson"), in May 2018.

Below is a list of all known Sweetener-era recording dates. Whether some of these tracks were intended for the album or not is unknown, but all tracks recorded after the release of Dangerous Woman up until the release of Sweetener are listed:

2016

2017

2018

*note: as of this time, the exact recording dates for "blazed", "breathin", "everytime", "pete davidson" and "successful" are unknown.

Cover art

SweetenerCoverNTLTCMV

Sweetener album cover art teased in a scene from the music video for its lead single, "No Tears Left To Cry".

On May 29, 2018, Grande confirmed that the album cover would be in color and that her eyes would be open.[28][29]

On June 12, 2018, an Instagram account for Sweetener was created and began slowly revealing the album cover as a countdown to its pre-order, with one segment being posted every 25 hours.[30] However, on June 18, 2018, the cover art was accidentally leaked by iTunes, so the last three segments were all posted on the same day.

Referring to the upside down image of Grande in the artwork, she stated: "I showed Aaron a photo and he was sitting opposite me and he said 'I even love it upside down' and that was kind of it for me. At the time I had been feeling very 'upside down' for a while and the simplicity of that was like 'oh duh wow my best friend [is] a genius', everything clicked after that".[31]

Singles

Promotional singles

Promotion

Ariana grande at the sweetener sessions 1

Grande performing at The Sweetener Sessions on August 20, 2018

On August 8, 2018, Grande announced a series of promotional concerts in the United States, titled the Sweetener Sessions, which took place on August 20, 22, and 25 in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, respectively. The tour was in partnership with American Express.[34] On August 28, 2018, a London concert was announced in partnership with Capital Up Close, which will take place on September 4, 2018.[35]

An art exhibit hosted by Spotify inspired by the album, called Sweetener: The Experience, was held on September 29 and 30, 2018, in New York. The exhibition featured rooms inspired by each of the songs on Sweetener.

Tour

Main article: Sweetener World Tour

On October 25, 2018, Grande announced the Sweetener/Thank U, Next Tour (later retitled to the Sweetener World Tour) in support of Sweetener as well as her fifth studio album, thank u, next (2019). The tour began on March 18, 2019, in Albany, New York, and ended on December 22, 2019, in Inglewood, California. The tour passed through North America and Europe.

Commercial performance and Reception

Sweetener debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 231,000 album-equivalent units, of which 127,000 were pure album sales.[36][37] This is Grande's third studio album to debut at the top of the chart since her previous Dangerous Woman (2016) debuted and peaked at number two, while Yours Truly (2013) and My Everything (2014) both debuted at number one. 6 tracks from the album debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same week: "breathin" (#22), "sweetener" (#55), "everytime" (#62), "R.E.M" (#72), "goodnight n go" (#87) and "pete davidson" (#99). The album also debuted at number 1 in the UK, Australia, Austria, Canada,[38], Czech Republic,[39] the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium,[40][41] Finland,[42] Poland,[43] Ireland,[44] New Zealand,[45] Norway,[46] Scotland[47], Portugal[48], Spain,[49] Sweden and Switzerland.[50]

Upon release, Sweetener received critical acclaim from music critics. Reviewing for Vice, Robert Christgau called the album a "garden of sonic delights" and wrote: "Grande is pleasant in such a physically uncommon and technically astute way. Her pure, precise soprano is warm without burr or melisma, its mellow sweetness never saccharine or showy". In The New York Times, Jon Pareles said the singer's voice "can be silky, breathy or cutting, swooping through long melismas or jabbing out short R&B phrases; it's always supple and airborne, never forced." Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone called the album "a refreshing, cohesive package. … [The producers' approach lets] Grande's easy way with trap phrasing find a home next to her flair for Broadway-esque dramatic runs"; it combines "the sensual romance of the album's plentiful love songs and the aching heartbreak of the others." Spanos concludes that it is Grande's "best album yet, and one of 2018's strongest pop releases to date. Kate Solomon of The Independent commented that with music that is "often unexpected, sometimes in a good way, it is an album by an artist in flux – trying to move forward while reluctant to fully relinquish old ideas." Some critics dubbed Sweetener an important album in Grande's catalogue.

Writing for NME, Douglas Greenwood deemed the album "[a] confident, accomplished, sometimes left-field collection of pop bangers, proving that she's not shy of experimentation." He also commented that "there are a couple of songs on Sweetener that you'd happily leave on the shelf." Similarly, in The Guardian, Alexis Petridis said that "her collaborations with Pharrell really push the boundaries. But they make the rest of this album seem formulaic." He considered the album "uneven", with its attempts to balance out what Grande called a "weird" record. Petridis felt that "the world could use more pop music as imaginative as Sweetener's highlights." The "Pharrell-half" of the album polarized fans upon release, though the other half of the album was universally praised.

In December 2018, Billboard placed Sweetener at the top of their year-end list for the best albums of 2018. Complimenting Grande's take on the sadness, they said "she didn't let her past define her, and she didn't dwell on what her future may hold, either" and praised Grande that "while most fans couldn't possibly relate to her extraordinary circumstances, Grande still ended the year seeming more approachable and human than ever". Sweetener, alongside its followup thank u, next (2019), both placed on Billboard's decade-end album's list "The 100 Greatest Albums of the 2010s" at numbers 38 and 8 respectively. They called Sweetener her most personal sound and "a radiant, pure snapshot of what stumbling upon happiness sounds like".

Trivia

  • The first song recorded for the album was "sweetener".[2]
  • The last song recorded for the album was "pete davidson".
  • Roughly thirty songs were scrapped from the album, but as more unreleased songs began to leak there were more than thirty.
  • The albums photoshoot was at the Philip Dixon House in Venice, Los Angeles, California
    • The unreleased Sweetener photoshoots were shot and taken on February 9, 2018.
    • The photos were taken by Dave Meyers.
    • Three scrapped visualizers ("Get Well Soon", "Sweetener", and "R.E.M.") along with "Raindrops" a edited version of "No Tears Left To Cry" that is seen on Spotify as a background for the song and another alternative video of "Get Well Soon" that Grande recorded and lip-synced during the album’s photoshoot was teased on Grande's Instagram account in August 2018. The visualizers began to leak and surface on June 18, 2023. Due to the photoshoot leaking, we can assume the visuals were recorded on February 9, 2018.
  • All track titles are stylized in lowercase apart from "God is a woman", which is stylized in sentence case, and "R.E.M". This is Grande's first album to include title stylization.
    • "no tears left to cry" was originally stylized in title case on the day of its release but was changed to lowercase just days after. This was either an error or the lowercase stylization was chosen later in development.
  • Sweetener is Grande's first album cover to:
    • Not appear in black & white.
    • Not include her name on the artwork.
    • Appear upside-down.
  • "R.E.M.", "get well soon" and "pete davidson" do not contain lyrics that name their song title. This is similar to songs like "7 rings."
  • Grande's favorite songs from the album are "get well soon", "R.E.M", "no tears left to cry" and a tie between "sweetener" and "God is a woman".[51]
  • Grande has started her own makeup brand, titled r.e.m. beauty, and she released two perfumes (R.E.M. and God is a Woman) named after songs from this album.
  • This is Ariana's longest standard edition album, at 47 minutes, 25 seconds.
    • It can be debated on whether Sweetener or Dangerous Woman is Grande's longest standard edition album. While the US standard version of Dangerous Woman is technically longer (at 55 minutes, 35 seconds), every other region recieved the eleven-track (roughly 39-minute) version of the album as the standard edition, with the fifteen-track version being its deluxe edition.
  • "pete davidson" is the second song in Grande's career to feature somebody's name in the title, following "Jason's Song (Gave it Away)."
  • This is Grande's first album to be released on cassette.
  • Sweetener did not have a deluxe edition, being one of three albums not to have one.
    • It also doesn't have a Target edition.
  • Grande held an art exhibit, titled Sweetener: The Experience, where fans could walk around 15 rooms designed after every song on the album.
    • This is so far her only album to do this.
  • This is Grande's first and only album to not include any remixes from another artist.
  • This album earned Grande her first Grammy Award for Pop Vocal Album in 2019. However, she didn't attend the ceremony that year.
  • This is Grande's first and only album to not include an alternative album cover.
  • Despite being solely named after Sweetener, the Sweetener World Tour is Grande's first world tour to promote two albums instead of one, promoting Thank U, Next alongside it.

Merchandise

Physical Releases

Gallery

Recording

Sweetener Slumber Party

Spotify

Videos

Track listing

Standard Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Raindrops (An Angel Cried)"Bob GaudioIlya, Max Martin0:37
2."Blazed" (featuring Pharrell Williams)Pharrell Williams, Maxine ColonWilliams3:16
3."The Light is Coming" (featuring Nicki Minaj)Williams, Onika Maraj, GrandeWilliams3:48
4."R.E.M."WilliamsWilliams4:05
5."God is a Woman"Grande, Salmanzadeh, Martin, Savan Kotecha, Rickard GöranssonIlya3:17
6."Sweetener"Williams, GrandeWilliams3:28
7."Successful"GrandeWilliams3:47
8."Everytime"Grande, Salmanzadeh, Kotecha, MartinMartin, Ilya2:52
9."Breathin"Grande, Salmanzadeh, Kotecha, Peter SvenssonIlya3:18
10."No Tears Left to Cry"Grande, Martin, Salmanzadeh, KotechaMartin, Ilya3:25
11."Borderline" (featuring Missy Elliott)Williams, Melissa ElliottWilliams2:57
12."Better Off"Tommy Brown, Chauncey Hollis, Brian Malik Baptiste, Kim "Kaydence" Krysiuk, GrandeHit-Boy, Brown, Baptiste2:51
13."Goodnight N Go"Brown, Charles Anderson, Michael Foster, Grande, Victoria McCantsBrown, Anderson, Foster3:09
14."Pete Davidson"GrandeBrown, Anderson1:13
15."Get Well Soon"GrandeWilliams5:22
Total length:47:25
  • "Raindrops (An Angel Cried)" is an a cappella cover of "An Angel Cried", a 1964 song written by Bob Gaudio and performed by The Four Seasons.
  • "Goodnight N Go" contains a sample of and incorporates lyrics from "Goodnight and Go" (2006), written and performed by Imogen Heap.
  • "Get Well Soon" contains 40 seconds of silence at the end of the track, which brings the total playtime of the track to 5:22 - something speculated by fans to align with the date of the Manchester Arena bombing, which took place on May 22, 2017 (5/22).
  • All tracks are stylized in all-lowercase, except "R.E.M", stylized in all-uppercase, and "God is a Woman", stylized in sentence case.
Japan Special Edition[53]
No.TitleLength
16."No Tears Left to Cry" (Instrumental)3:25
17."God is a Woman" (Instrumental)3:17
Japan Deluxe Edition (Bonus DVD)[54]
No.TitleLength
1."No Tears Left to Cry" (Music Video)3:59
2."The Light is Coming" (featuring Nicki Minaj) (Music Video)3:53

Cut tracks

References

  1. The Fader - Ariana Grande
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Twitter - Ariana about the first song recorded
  3. Twitter - Ariana about working on the album
  4. YouTube - Ariana Grande's Gone Platinum Blonde & Confirms She's FINISHED Her Fourth Album
  5. Idolator - Ariana Grande Is Already Working On Her Fourth Album
  6. MTV - Ariana Grande's Been So 'Inspired' That She Already Made Her Next Album
  7. Twitter - Ariana confirms AG4 is done
  8. Youtube - Ariana during Dangerous Woman Q&A
  9. Ariana Grande Teams With Pharrell Williams For 4th Album
  10. From Ariana to Watt: Catching Up With Scooter Braun’s 20 Clients as SB Projects Turns 10
  11. Pharrell Williams' latest Adidas Originals collaboration is a super-exclusive pair of co-branded Chanel kicks
  12. Instagram - New song snippet - 12/31/17
  13. 13.0 13.1 Billboard - Ariana Grande Announces New Song 'No Tears Left To Cry' Out Friday
  14. Twitter - Ariana's Instagram Story #2
  15. YouTube - Snapchat Story July 19, 2016
  16. Instagram - Snapchat Story August 10, 2016
  17. YouTube - Snapchat Story August 11, 2016
  18. YouTube - Snapchat Story August 12, 2016
  19. YouTube - Snapchat Story August 17, 2016
  20. YouTube - Snapchat Story October 10, 2016
  21. YouTube - Snapchat Story October 11, 2016
  22. YouTube - Snapchat Story October 12, 2016
  23. YouTube - Snapchat Story October 13, 2016
  24. Instagram - Instagram Story November 8, 2016
  25. YouTube - Instagram Story April 20, 2017
  26. YouTube - Instagram Story July 26, 2017
  27. Instagram - "see you next year" December 31, 2017
  28. Twitter - Ariana revealing that the album cover art won't be in Blank and White
  29. Twitter - Ariana about her eyes open on the album cover art
  30. The Fader - Ariana Grande is revealing her Sweetener album cover, piece-by-piece
  31. Ariana Grande reveals stunning artwork for her new album Sweetener
  32. Loud Luxury’s “Body,” Ariana Grande’s “Breathin” Reach Top 40 At Pop Radio
  33. Top 40/M Future Releases - Mainstream Hit Songs Being Released and Their Release Dates
  34. Billboard - Ariana Grande Announces Intimate 'Sweetener Sessions' in New York City, Los Angeles & Chicago
  35. Captial FM - Capital Up Close Presents Ariana Grande - The Only Way In Is To Win!
  36. Ariana Grande Earns Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Sweetener'
  37. Ariana Grande's 'Sweetener' Album Aiming for No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
  38. Ariana Grande's 'Sweetener' Sours Travis Scott's Success
  39. Czech Albums – Top 100
  40. ultratop.be - Ariana Grande - Sweetener
  41. ultratop.be - Ariana Grande - Sweetener
  42. Suomen virallinen lista - Albumit 34/2018
  43. Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart
  44. IRMA - Irish Charts
  45. NZ Top 40 Albums Chart
  46. Topp 40 Album 2018-34 – VG-lista 2018
  47. Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100
  48. Ariana Grande entra para a liderança do Top Nacional
  49. El portal de Música
  50. SCHWEIZER HITPARADE - ALBEN TOP 100 - 26.08.2018
  51. Twitter - gws, rem & my third spot is tightly tied between sweetener & giaw 💛
  52. Twitter - i’m adding blazed n borderline to this sry for the late thought
  53. Sweetener Japan Special Edition [w/ GOODS, Limited Edition] by Ariana Grande
  54. Sweetener Deluxe Edition [w/ DVD, Limited Edition]

External links


Sweetener
August 17, 2018 • 47:25 • Republic Records
Songs
Released Better OffBlazedBorderlineBreathinEverytimeGet Well SoonGod Is A WomanGoodnight N GoNo Tears Left To CryPete DavidsonRaindrops (An Angel Cried)R.E.M.SuccessfulSweetenerThe Light Is Coming
Unreleased 1st Unknown Sweetener Outtake100Bad To YouClarityCloudsCocoonDaydream On OccasionEnd Up With YouEver BeenGot Her OwnHate That You Made Me Love YouI Don't Wanna LieI Love MeKeep It CuteMan Of SteelMoreMy WayNobodyOk NowOne In A MillionOn Top Of EverythingPretty Girls Like Trap MusicRush DeliverySexShnackSoberSouth AfricaStrong EnoughTreadmillWifeeYou
Artists
Ariana GrandeAli TamposiBiaBeyoncéChaka KhanDua LipaCamila CabelloCharlie PuthImogen HeapJennifer HudsonKelly RowlandLucky DayeMissy ElliottN.E.R.D.Nicki MinajNormaniPharrell WilliamsQuavoRita OraSkeptaStarrahSZAT-PainVictoria Monét
Tour
Sweetener World TourThe Sweetener Sessions
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