Ariana Grande x Max Martin: A Ranking
In which I rank all of Ariana Grande's songs with Max Martin or one of his associates...
Happy New Year!!
I intended to return to this Substack with the 2023 sequel to my Top 50 Albums of 2022 behemoth of an article, but it’s more difficult single-handedly writing individual comments on albums than one might expect. I have a concrete ranking of my favorite albums of last year (that has been posted somewhere online), but I’m still uncertain that said article will materialize. Perhaps you’ll get it at a later date this month or this year.
In the meantime, the year is already kicking off with one of music’s most exciting prospects: the return of Ariana Grande. We all knew it was going to be some time before she returned and it seemed as though that would be the case as we saw how long production on Wicked was taking, but I suspect due to the recent SAG and WGA strikes, Ariana Grande spent the last few months teasing a new album by posting pictures of herself with frequent collaborators Max Martin and Ilya in the studio. At the time of writing this article, Ariana has announced her lead single “Yes, And?” which comes out tonight at midnight, and an album that will follow suit. In honor of Ariana’s return and her reunion with Max Martin, I thought it would be a nice re-entry to music writing if I ranked all of her collaborations with Max and/or Max-adjacent writers and producers.
The rules will be simple. I’ve scoured Ariana’s discography and selected all the songs where she’s either featured as a performer or a writer alongside Max Martin and/or any of his associated writers and producers (read: writers/producers signed to Maratone/MXM Music/Wolf Cousins). I didn’t include songs where Dr. Luke or his protegees were the sole contributing co-writers/producers because other than Luke being an odious individual, Luke branched off and created his camp (Prescription Songs/Kemosabe). The total number of songs I was able to gather came up to 33. Not every song here features a Max Martin credit and I want to give credit where it is due because I think we all have this idea that Max is interchangeable with any of the other songwriters and artists signed to his publishing company - and while they work as a camp frequently, I think they all do offer different talents at times. This is just meant to be something light and fun. We’re all going to have fun.
33. “Bang Bang” - Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
(Written by: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Rickard Goransson, Onika Maraj, and Ariana Grande / Produced by: Max Martin, Rickard Goransson, and Ilya)
I can be fair. There’s no doubt that this song was a moment in pop history. Three notable female artists came together on a song that weaponized onomatopoeia to take pop radio by storm. There’s a story that Ariana didn’t like this song at first and then it was offered to Jessie who liked it, then Nicki jumped on it, then they played it to Ariana and she agreed to stay on it. Jessie J claims it was her song first. The lyrics are more adult than you’d expect given how obnoxious and immature the cheap horn-heavy go-go-inspired production seems. This is one of those songs where it barely hit when you were there and thanks to it being annoying and overplayed, time has made it clear this song has worn out its welcome.
32. “Nobody” - Ariana Grande with Chaka Khan
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Savan Kotecha, Ilya, and Max Martin / Produced by: Ilya and Max Martin / Vocal Production by: Savan Kotecha and Peter Carlsson / Additional Production by: Ariana Grande)
Chaka Khan summarized this song best in an interview with Variety magazine before the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack was ever released. The song itself is nothing special but it does lean toward the more soulful direction of Ariana’s collaborations with Max Martin and Ilya and Savan and others. The best I can offer about this song is that Ariana and Chaka are great vocalists and they don’t skimp on their performances here. It’s attempting to be a pastiche of one of those loud songs you imagine being played by a big band, and it succeeds at being that and nothing more. It isn’t as annoying as songs can get when they’re only aiming for that loud soul-pop sound (see: Bang Bang), but it’s not worth coming back to.
31. “How It’s Done” - Kash Doll, Kim Petras, Alma & Stefflon Don
(Written by: Alma-Sofia Miettinen (ALMA), Ariana Grande, Arkeisha Knight (Kash Doll), Ilya, Rami Yacoub, Savan Kotecha, and Stephanie Allen (Stefflon Don) / Produced by: Ilya and Savan Kotecha / Co-Produced by: Rami Yacoub / Vocal Production by: Aaron Joseph)
This is another collaboration assembled for the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack, featuring a real hodge-podge of characters: you have the eternally burgeoning Kim Petras, you have Kash Doll, Swedish singer ALMA (who co-wrote Miley Cyrus’s “Slide Away”…and “Cattitude”), and then British rapper Stefflon Don (who is currently fighting over a Nigerian man on the blogs). The song itself follows the trend of being brassy and loud, and it opens the album with its fanfare riff. It’s not a bad song and Kim does a decent job of playing the hook girl but nobody here does anything impressive. This one gets the leg up over “Nobody” since the switch-up between artists and the more modern approach to its production makes it grab your attention a bit more.
30. “They Don’t Know” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Justin Timberlake, Savan Kotecha, and Ilya / Produced by: Ilya and Justin Timberlake)
Justin Timberlake penned this song with Savan Kotecha and Ilya for the Trolls soundtrack so it has the same cloying over-the-top happy-go-lucky sensibility you probably remember (with disgust) from Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop The Feeling”. That song became known as a career-killer for how ubiquitous of an annoyance it became, but Ariana fares better because she has the virtue of the song not being overplayed and turning into a great vocal performance as usual. The song has this trite sentiment about running off with her lover with no real meaning behind it. It’s nothing groundbreaking for anyone considering the talent involved but it is inoffensive and pretty catchy.
29. “Don’t Call Me Angel (Charlie’s Angels)” - Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus & Lana Del Rey
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Alma-Sofia Miettinen, Ilya, Max Martin, and Savan Kotecha / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya / Additional Production by: Ariana Grande)
Let it be known I am a “Don’t Call Me Angel” apologist! Much has already been said about how the chemistry between these three artists never comes to fruition throughout the song. I think Ariana and Miley handle the trap-pop element of the song well since by the time this song came out, it was a staple of Ariana’s sound (and perhaps starting to wear thin) and Miley knows her way around the sound pretty well. However, Lana’s bridge is the best-written part of the song but its change of pace brings the song’s momentum to a screeching halt and then the song asks listeners to go back to Ariana and Miley’s trap-pop shenanigans for a final chorus. Structurally, the song is all over the place and doesn’t wholly deliver on the promise of such a superstar team-up.
28. “Bad to You” - Ariana Grande, Normani & Nicki Minaj
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Onika Maraj, Brandon "Bizzy" Hollemon, Ilya, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, and Danny Schofield (DannyBoyStyles) / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya / Vocal Production by: Kuk Harrell / Additional Production by: Ariana Grande)
This was originally meant to be a collaboration between Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa, and you can hear the outcome of that elsewhere on the Internet - but for what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s as good as the released version. This style of blending reggae with trap-pop wasn’t new for Ariana by the time the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack came out and it’s not the strongest iteration of it from Ariana and her camp. There’s something weirdly stilted about the way the call and response is delivered during the chorus, but this song benefits from a stronger sense of chemistry between Ariana, Normani, and Nicki Minaj. This isn’t the best verse from Nicki either but she does inject a lot of personality with her ad-libs. I like the sensual energy everyone brings, even if the whole thing ends up feeling a bit more subdued than one would imagine from the artists involved.
27. “Bad Decisions” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Savan Kotecha, Ilya, and Max Martin / Produced by: Ilya and Max Martin)
This Dangerous Woman track finds Ariana singing about being so deliriously in love with someone that she starts making bad decisions. Ilya blends trap with this old-school R&B piano riff and a modern pop sensibility. Ariana sounds great and there’s a great carefree feeling to the whole song, but this has always been one of the weaker songs on its parent album, due in no small part to the lyricism. Max’s guiding principle has always been that lyrics should sacrifice logic in service of rhythm and to that end, Savan’s introduction to the Max Martin camp helped curtail his leanings towards weird lyrical choices. Ariana has always catered to a more diverse audience than most of her other white peers, sometimes to contentious reception, but no one in the room was firing on all cylinders when they decided she should sing “we got that hood love” and mean it.
26. “Focus” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Savan Kotecha, Ilya, Ariana Grande, and Peter Svensson / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
“Focus” came as Ariana was leading into another album cycle and not much longer after Ariana's infamous incident being caught on video licking a donut in a public donut shop and expressing her disgust for America and/or the donuts. Even though she apologized, perhaps there was a bit of lingering resentment when she released “Focus” and demanded the public pay attention to her, because the underperformance of this song caused Grande and her label to swiftly disavow it as the lead single for her then-upcoming album Dangerous Woman. Some may argue that said underperformance is due to the song being a retread of her earlier hit single “Problem”, this time beefing up the conceit of a sax solo by adding trumpets and trombones to the mix. It even swaps out Big Sean for Jamie Foxx as the male chant in the chorus - but Jamie raucously hollers where Sean seductively whispered and while the song is much better than anyone gave it credit for at the time, it does suffer from being a bit of an imitation of a stronger one.
25. “Everyday” - Ariana Grande featuring Future
(Written by: Ilya, Savan Kotecha, Ariana Grande, and Nayvadius Wilburn (Future) / Produced by: Ilya)
Dangerous Woman was the moment Ariana Grande showcased sexuality as a much more prominent and obvious theme in her music, and this song is a blatant celebration of a sexually fulfilling relationship with a lover. Ariana had affirmed her love of trap music before this album came out with the release of her Christmas & Chill EP, and Ilya was arguably the most instrumental member of Max Martin’s camp in bringing the Swedish hitmaking formula into the trap era. I suspect the usage of Future’s adlibs as the chorus during the buzzing drop polarizes some listeners, but it burrows into your mind, and Ariana and Future both sound at home and play off each other well. There isn’t much to latch onto lyrically but this type of song works best with simple ideas.
24. “How I Look On You” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Ilya, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, and Ariana Grande / Produced by: Ilya and Max Martin)
Buried on the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack, Ariana chastises a lover for loving the attention being with her affords him and questions whether he’s interested in her at all. This song adheres to the trap-pop formula Ariana, Max, and Ilya refined throughout Sweetener and Thank U, Next but the electric guitar riff gives this song a unique edge from their usual stuff. Grande confirmed this song was written after Thank U, Next but confirmed that it could have fit on there as well as it being her favorite song for the soundtrack, leading some to speculate it is about her romance with Pete Davidson. Regardless, compared to the rest of that soundtrack, this song has some meat on its bones and deserves its rightful place in the Ariana Grande canon.
23. “Break Free” - Ariana Grande featuring Zedd
(Written by: Anton Zaslavski (Zedd), Savan Kotecha, and Max Martin / Produced by: Zedd and Max Martin)
This is the most infamous instance of Max Martin’s lyrical eccentricities, with Grande publicly expressing some distaste for the grammatically incorrect “Now that I’ve become who I really are”, which only works for the rhyme. This was Grande’s first foray into EDM after her first album primarily focused on R&B, and the gays go up for this one to this day, especially once she paired it with that Barbarella-themed music video and the lyrics are all about coming into your own and those platitudes of self-liberation go over well with the LGBT community for obvious reasons. This song still works since it functions as a time-honored tradition of slapping a big female vocal on a dance beat (diva house) and it trims just enough of Zedd’s complextro dubstep production style, but not enough that you couldn’t place what era this one came out of.
22. “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Max Martin, Ilya, Savan Kotecha, Kandi Burruss, Kevin “She’kspeare” Briggs / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
Ariana Grande closed off Thank U, Next with this salacious invitation for a guy to become her lover if he breaks up with his girlfriend. She plays it off as if she’s the one being teased but Ariana’s ad-libs are smooth and seductive, as she shrugs off any suggestion of immorality that could be tied to her actions. Max Martin and Ilya throw in an interpolation of 'NSYNC’s “It Makes Me Ill” (a song of theirs that Max wasn’t responsible for), which you can hear in Grande’s cadence on the bridge. Some have said the song is in poor taste but I think it works as a titillating closing number to an album full of heavy emotions, even if it is a little mean-spirited. We’ve all been jealous, we’ve all wanted something we can’t have, and Grande takes that feeling and turns it into a bop.
21. “Problem” - Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea
(Written by: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ilya, Amethyst Kelly (Iggy Azalea), and Ariana Grande / Produced by: Max Martin, Shellback, and Ilya / Vocal Production : Peter Carlsson)
Ariana was coming off of her debut and started working with Max Martin and his camp for sessions that would contribute towards My Everything, her second studio album. Personally, even though I have come to love Yours Truly, I think Ariana needed to prove herself as a hitmaker with her own identity other than being a Mariah Carey disciple and this song helped in that regard. The R&B sound is still there but there’s a strong influence from funk packaged into this more modern and radio-ready dance-pop amalgam. This became Ariana’s biggest hit at the time upon release and going back to it, you can see why. The bass is heavy and pounding, Iggy’s verse is great despite whatever misgivings you may have about her now, Ariana still gets to show off her vocal agility, and Big Sean’s presence on the chorus is heavily reminiscent of the Ying Yang Twins’ “Wait”. There’s a lot of looking towards the past here to inform the present and it felt harmonious with Ariana’s 1950s doo-wop aesthetic while still feeling fresh for that time.
20. “Sometimes” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ilya, and Peter Svensson / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
This Dangerous Woman album track takes what could be a typical 90s acoustic guitar R&B song about being devoted to a partner and beefs it up with some serious electronic production. The special part of this song is the bridge, which in my opinion, is one of her best. The production cuts out everything other than her voice and the kick then they add some vocoder to her vocals right before bringing everything back in after Grande gives the listeners a great belt. It’s a good lesson in how sometimes great production involves building tension and trusting listeners to be patient enough for a big payoff, and knowing when to scale back and give the song less so that what it does have can feel like more.
19. “Bloodline” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ilya, and Ariana Grande / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
Not for the first time, Max Martin and Ilya appropriated reggae and cooked up a blend with their bass-heavy brand of Pop&B for Ariana. “Bloodline” is Ariana straight up telling a guy that they’re only there for a good time and she has no interest in developing a committed relationship with him otherwise. Everyone who’s listened to Ariana Grande knows she is one of the best vocalists to hit pop music in the past decade or so, but this is a good example of how Ariana has managed to keep up in the rap era in terms of vocal delivery. She delivers a good portion of her lines at a rapid-fire pace and you can hear the attitude in her performance which helps sell the song. This is one of the few occasions on Thank U, Next where Ariana allows for some levity and it feels like a natural progression from her earlier flirtation with reggae on “Side to Side”.
18. “Everytime” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ilya, and Ariana Grande / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
Sweetener saw Ariana Grande taking control of her artistry and attempting to become more of an album-oriented artist with statements to make. Though Ariana had already shown an affinity for trap music, this was the album where she landed on trap as part of her sound in a big way. Ilya and Max Martin had already made strides towards developing a sound that would mix those trends on her previous album, but they were putting it to more use here while Ariana took more of a leading role in her lyricism. The result is that Ariana weaves a tale of being repeatedly drawn towards a troubled and unreliable lover despite making efforts to pull herself away from him. Ariana’s sound on this album was kind of an updated version of hip-hop soul for the 2010s and with a lot of reliance on his new protege Ilya, Max Martin proved he was capable of keeping up with the times again.
17. “Dangerous Woman” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Johan Carlsson, Max Martin, and Ross Golan / Produced by: Max Martin and Johan Carlsson)
This title track became the new lead single after Ariana and her label jettisoned the underperforming “Focus” and you can immediately understand the reasoning when you hear the song because everything about it feels grand. Co-writer Ross Golan said the song was originally written for Carrie Underwood and there’s a swagger here that would work well for a country artist, but with Ariana, the song is a soulful and sultry midtempo number that works as an immediate proclamation that Ariana Grande is a grown woman now and wielding sexual autonomy. It also works as the more mature next step from her previous doo-wop leanings, veering into a more traditional take on rock and roll at times. This has become one of Grande’s most well-known hits and it somehow manages to feel handcrafted for arenas without losing that ability to be seductive.
16. “Santa Tell Me” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Savan Kotecha, Ilya, and Ariana Grande / Produced by: Ilya)
It can be really hard to craft a Christmas classic on purpose. If you can do it, it’s a guaranteed cash cow every December but more often than not, most artists who put out Christmas material don’t end up with that kind of repeat business. Kudos to Ariana, Savan, and Ilya for coming up with a song that feels modern and very Ariana but still traditional enough to fit that Christmas mold. The melody on “Santa Tell Me” is very doo-wop inspired but it works well for the demands of a Christmas classic. It’s funny that amid all the comparisons Ariana draws to Mariah Carey, she was the one who ended up releasing the closest thing to a Christmas classic modern music has had since “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. I never get tired of hearing “Santa Tell Me” every year and I do purposefully go back to it, and it manages to stand out due to its relative modernity with other Christmas staples. Just not TOO much.
15. “Motivation” - Normani
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Savan Kotecha, Max Martin, Normani Kordei Hamilton, and Ilya / Produced by: Ilya)
I would be lying if I said you couldn’t hear Ariana Grande all over “Motivation” because her sound is there, but it’s a credit to Normani that she does manage to make this sound like her song. There’s a clear comparison to be made to Beyoncé’s “Check On It” and that era of 2000s R&B/Pop, assisted by the horn section and of course, expounded upon by Normani’s referential music video. Normani glides through the song and sounds smooth as butter, and the melody is so infectious it feels like the perfect soundtrack for the summer.
14. “One Last Time” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: David Guetta, Savan Kotecha, Giorgio Tuinfort, Rami Yacoub, and Carl Falk / Produced by: Carl Falk and Rami/ Co-Production: Ilya and Giorgio Tuinfort / Vocal Production: Ilya and Savan Kotecha)
“One Last Time” was supposed to be the lead single for My Everything multiple times but each time, another song got in the way. In the years since its release, the song has gained a newfound recognition in homage to the victims who lost their lives during the 2017 Manchester bombing of Ariana’s concert. The song itself has this melancholy sentiment as Grande pleads for an ex to give her one more night together and the song sounds sad as hell, despite being another exploration into the new realm of EDM for Ariana around that time. I always really loved the raw unbridled emotion Ariana gives this song, and I think she sells this desperate and wounded persona with her impassioned vocal delivery. The soaring vocals and belts drive home how much of a great vocalist Ariana is and why she’s shoulders above so many of her peers in that regard.
13. “Touch It” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ali Payami, Ariana Grande, and Peter Svensson / Produced by: Max Martin and Ali Payami)
Somewhere around Dangerous Woman, I think Max Martin and his team started to realize what an instrument Ariana Grande’s vocals could be. Ariana notoriously dislikes this song and calls it ‘boring’ and while I disagree, I could potentially see the case for it from her perspective. The song’s instrumental doesn’t go all over the place and lyrically, the song gets a bit repetitive so ultimately, most of the song’s thrill comes from what Max and Ali do with Ariana’s vocals. They treat her vocals with a vocoder here and there during the chorus and Ariana has tons of ad-libs throughout the song. Ariana jumps from chest voice to head voice with ease, displaying immaculate agility. The song tackles Ariana’s sexual frustration with a lover with whom she’s on a break, with some allusions to some more explicit intentions. The song builds toward this towering climax entirely made up of staccato synths and Ariana’s stacked soaring vocals and it never gets old.
12. “Thinking Bout You” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Chloe Angelides, Mathieu Jomphe-Lépine (Billboard), and Peter Svensson / Produced by: Peter Svensson and Billboard / Vocal Production by: Ilya and Peter Carlsson)
“Thinking Bout You” is an ode to missing a partner and wishing they were with you to spend the night instead of being alone. You could also read it as a song about masturbation. This closes most versions of Dangerous Woman and I think it wraps up the themes of sexuality and troubled love on the album pretty well. You can hear elements of tropical house in the song’s production but I think the mournful tone of the lyrics and the gloomy atmosphere prevents the song from feeling completely tied to that era. Since she’s known for being such an esteemed soprano, we don’t often get to hear as much of Grande’s lower register throughout her material but it’s pretty noticeable here on the bridge and as part of the harmonies. The flurry of synths that underscore her vocals during the bridge also helps create this really interesting wall of sound that lets up just in time for Ariana to hit her high note and it’s a truly special moment.
11. “Rain on Me” - Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande
(Written by: Stefani Germanotta (Lady Gaga), Michael Tucker (BloodPop®), Ariana Grande, Matthew Burns (Burns), Nija Charles, Rami Yacoub, Martin Bresso (Tchami), Alexander Ridha (Boyz Noise), Betty Wright, Jeremiah Burden, and Lynn Williams / Produced by: BloodPop® and Burns / Additional Production by: Tchami)
This isn’t a Max Martin and company production proper but the participation of Rami Yacoub (who was part of MXM Music at the time of the song’s production) led me to include it anyway. Anyone who knows me knows how much I adore this song and the two female artists involved. This is a song that’s just meant to celebrate perseverance and survival in the aftermath of adversity, and there are very few artists who understand that better than Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga. I’m such a sucker for French house and it’s every gay man’s wet dream to hear two of pop’s star vocalists go toe to toe over genuinely interesting club production. Gaga rips through the song with such ferocity, it feels like she went to hell and back and stepped immediately into the studio and Ariana restrains herself to a lower register than Gaga until the song’s outro, at which point, both vocalists let loose. Even stripped away from the context of the pandemic, the song’s catharsis remains intact.
10. “Side to Side” - Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj
(Written by: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, Ilya, Onika Maraj, and Ariana Grande / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
Nicki Minaj is one of Ariana’s most frequent collaborators and they’d worked together multiple times before this song, but I would say this is easily their best work together. Max Martin and Ilya give Ariana this reggae-pop fusion that’s catchy from start to finish and it was lyrically one of Ariana’s more daring songs at the time, with Ariana talking about a lover her friends keep warning her way from yet she’s unwilling to give him up because of how good the sex is, so much so she can barely walk. Nicki comes in with an excellent unforgettable verse that adds credibility to Ariana’s level up in sexual expression. The music video features a choreographed SoulCycle routine that Ariana tried to recreate onstage, to the detriment of her vocal performance that day. This is just one of those songs where everyone brought their A-game and created a memorable pop gem.
9. “Greedy” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, and Ilya / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
This Dangerous Woman highlight never got its flowers unless you count that one time Valentina wore a mask on Rupaul’s Drag Race because she didn’t know the words. Max Martin was no stranger to disco music before Ariana but he and Ilya crafted a really big-sounding and 2010s pop-friendly version of it on Dangerous Woman. Ariana continues the themes of sexual exploration you’ll find across the album, telling her lover she’s ‘physically obsessed’ with him. The song already sounds larger than life by the time you get to the key change around the final minute of the song. Ariana indulges in her habit of casually throwing out skyscraper belts effortlessly for the last minute and there’s a playful flirtatiousness in the way she sings “cause I’m so”. Maybe with Tiktok in the mix, she’ll get a proper moment one day.
8. “Bad Idea” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Max Martin, Peter Svensson, Savan Kotecha, and Ilya / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
This Thank U, Next track continues in the vein of Max, Ariana, Savan, and Ilya’s trap-pop blend that they sharpened on Sweetener, with Ariana inviting a potential lover to help her get past the trauma of her previous relationship without any commitment. Savan wanted to emulate The Police over a trap beat and you can hear the similarity of the guitar riff to those found on their hits “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and “Every Breath You Take”. I think the riff lends this song a perturbing undercurrent that you find in those songs. There’s an ad-lib where Ariana chants “Ari-Chan!” that runs through the song because Ariana loves Japanese culture (you may see this as cultural appropriation, and that is up to you) that fleshes out the song. The part that sets this song apart from the others occupying the same lane is the audacity everyone has to chop and screw the outro, including Ariana’s vocals.
7. “Save Your Tears (Remix)” - The Weeknd and Ariana Grande
(Written by: Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd), Ahmad Balshe (Belly), Jason Quenneville, Max Martin, Oscar Holter, and Ariana Grande / Produced by: Max Martin, Oscar Holter, The Weeknd, and Ariana Grande)
Ariana Grande and The Weeknd are widely known to be in artistic bondage, a true professional couple. They frequently collaborate and Abel is the only one who could convince her to hop on a remix and break her musical hiatus while on the set of Wicked. The original version of “Save Your Tears” was already a delectable slice of 80s synthpop played straight, with Abel attempting to atone for his past and begging his ex-partner for another chance. Then you have the remix with Ariana, who takes up the role of The Weeknd’s counterpart and subverts expectations by delivering her verse in her lower register. By the time this remix was recorded, Ariana and the Weeknd had two duets under their belt and Ariana was already well-versed in harmonization on her own accord, so hearing their voices together feels all too natural. It’s a match made in heaven.
6. “Breathin” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Peter Svensson, Savan Kotecha, and Ilya / Produced by: Ilya)
Most people are aware Ariana Grande went through some documented turmoil from 2017-2019 and this song is an indicator of the hit her mental health took during that time. Grande developed PTSD and panic attacks in the aftermath of the aforementioned Manchester bombing, and this song serves as somewhat of a mantra for Grande to keep ‘breathing’ despite the onslaught of trauma she was coping with. There’s a similarity in the flavor of disco utilized here with that of Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home” but Grande is a more capable vocalist than Drake or either member of Majid Jordan, so she has no issue with making the song feel entirely her own. The songs on this list cast a wide net in terms of gravity and reliability, and this song tips toward the more serious side of that scale where Grande had something important to say. This song and some others show how Ilya and Savan are often capable of meeting her where she’s at in those moments.
5. “Love Me Harder” - Ariana Grande and The Weeknd
(Written by: Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd), Ahmed Balshe (Belly), Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, and Ali Payami / Produced by: Ali Payami and Peter Svensson / Vocal Production by: Peter Carlsson)
Ariana Grande and The Weeknd’s first collaboration was orchestrated by the then-executive vice president of Republic Records, Charlie Walk, who was planning for The Weeknd to blow up with his next album and wanted to use a collaboration between them to promote Abel. Max Martin sent The Weeknd the track, but Abel wanted the song to reflect his darker style and tailored the song to suit. Ariana was still keeping things relatively PG at the time, so it was a bit of a risk for Ariana to go along with that direction for the track. Even though the song has Ariana plead for her counterpart (played by The Weeknd) to ‘love’ her harder, it’s obvious to anyone who pays enough attention to the lyrics that Ariana is meant to be talking about rough sex and Abel’s verse takes the implicit and renders it explicit. Ali Payami developed this sound for a while (which is also evident in Taylor Swift’s “Style) of 80s-inspired synthpop where the beat relentlessly churns and builds upon itself. Ariana and Abel are playing up this dynamic where she’s the innocent doe-eyed flirt and Abel is the shady no-good lothario, and it succeeds largely because of their vocal performances and that dark throbbing beat.
4. “No Tears Left to Cry” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Savan Kotecha, Max Martin, and Ilya / Produced by: Ilya and Max Martin)
I previously mentioned that Sweetener was the moment Ariana Grande became more involved in her sound and started making statements with her albums. It was also her first album after the 2017 bombings and there were a lot of serious and intense feelings going into a new album. Ariana Grande wrote the song with Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, and Ilya as a response to the incident, a rallying cry of positivity and choosing to look on the brighter side of life, following the incident. For everyone involved, “No Tears Left to Cry” is still a different kind of song, drawing on UK garage - a genre that has never been that popular on this side of the Atlantic until long after this song was released. Armed with an unusually stunning Dave Meyers video, Grande made her big comeback with this song and it remains one of the biggest highlights of her career. The song starts as a ballad and progresses into a song fit for the dance floor. I just think this song was a real lighting-in-a-bottle moment and it never fails to put a smile on my face.
3. “Into You” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, and Ilya / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
This is just one of those songs that you immediately think of when you think of the term “pop perfection”. Over the years, the song has become immortalized among gays and in the culture to the point that one could be led to believe the song is ”overrated”, but then you hear the song. This song was released as a single and didn’t even make it to the top ten and honestly, I think that will forever be a tragedy. “Into You” is crammed with hook after hook with endlessly quotable lyrics and winking references to the listener (“A Little Less Conversation” and a little more “Touch My Body”). Max and Ilya don’t squander a second with the production, building the beat up for the chorus and reducing for the verses. Ariana matches them by subduing her vocals during the verses and gunning for it during the chorus. They maintain this perfect balance until they get to the bridge where the synths stall to give Ariana this big showgirl moment where she lets loose with her belts - but before they bring the chorus back, they linger just a little more for an even higher note from Ariana and interspersing the final chorus with tons of her adlibs. There are no notes to be given. “Into You” is bombastic from start to finish.
2. “God is a Woman” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Ilya, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, and Rickard Göransson / Produced by: Ilya)
It’s hard to imagine that this song was offered to Camila Cabello before Ariana recorded it, and it’s harder to imagine most artists pulling off the choir made up solely of stacked Ariana vocals during the song’s outro. This song is the best iteration of the trap-pop blend Ariana became synonymous with across Sweetener and Thank U, Next. Ariana gets to flaunt her range not just in vocal capability - but in vocal delivery, going from gospel singer to rapper in a flash. Lyrically, Ariana asserts herself with a lover as a sexual and liberated being, weaving in these undertones of spirituality and feminism without being overt. The guitar riff throughout the song is pleasantly moody and helps create this mystical atmosphere. Dave Meyers is hit-or-miss and way too obsessed with CGI, but I think he does manage to bring a lot of the song’s layers to the surface visually in the video. Ariana doesn’t usually swing for these ambitious artistic statements and this felt like a good way for her to upscale her artistry in a meaningful and organic way.
1. “Ghostin” - Ariana Grande
(Written by: Ariana Grande, Victoria Monét, Savan Kotecha, Tayla Parx, Max Martin, and Ilya / Produced by: Max Martin and Ilya)
From the jump, I knew this song was going to be at the top of my list and it’s hard to imagine ranking it without the meaning attached to it. Ariana captured a very difficult and specific situation with more nuance than you typically find in most of her discography. Ariana crafts this narrative of an unfortunate love triangle caused by the death of an ex and her commitment to her current lover and it is painful to hear her describe the grief and guilt, but everyone involved does a great job of giving the song the attention and care it deserves. Ariana’s vocal performance is delicate for the majority of the song until the last minute, where she delivers some of her most beautiful falsetto adlibs to date as the song comes to a close. The song functions as the emotional centerpiece of Thank U, Next and Max and Ilya give it this ethereal and unsettling production that aligns with the sentiment of the song. This is another song where you won’t hear anything else like it across Max or Ilya’s discography and stands out as some of their best work to date. This is probably the hardest song for me (and most Ariana listeners) to return to, and that’s a testament to the raw emotion Ariana and her collaborators channeled throughout the song’s production.