Thank U, Next (album)

In September 2018, former boyfriend Grande, rapper Mac Miller , died of an overdose. After that, the singer said that she takes a break from all musical affairs ^[4] . However, Grande soon already worked in the music studio on new songs, and also announced the Sweetener World Tour concert tour (2019). She also announced that it will be held in support of the fourth studio album, Sweetener (2018), and the forthcoming fifth studio album ^{[5] [6]} . Later, in October 2018, Grande broke off the engagement with comedian Pete Davidson. ^[7]

To record the album, Grande worked with several music producers, including Max Martin and Andrew "Pop" Wenzel , with whom she worked as an executive producer ^[8] . Grande began recording the album after she first said that she would take a break and rest from the music ^[4] . It took a total of two weeks to record an album ^[9] . Commenting on the length of the albums, Grande commented: “I did this with my best friends for a really short period of time, and it kind of saved my life. It was some very complicated chapter of life, but then my friends made it all amazing and special ” ^[10] . Musician Max Martin contributed to the album, producing and writing songs with Ilya Salmanzade, Ariana Grande, Kotechei and Alexander Kronlund, they created several tracks featured on the album, including Bloodline, Bad Idea, Ghostin and “Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored”, while the title track was produced by Tommy Brown and the Social House ^[11] . All songs were recorded at Jungle City Studios in New York . The mix was conducted by the Serban Genea at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach , Virginia . The mastering was then conducted by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound, New York ^[11] . Grande worked with her closest friends on the record: Tommy Brown, who produced most of the tracks, including Needy, NASA, Make Up and 7 Rings , with the support of Charles Anderson and Michael Foster ^[12] .

Thank U, Next debuted at the top of the American Billboard 200 charts with a circulation of 360,000 album equivalent units, including 116,000 true album sales. This is the 4th disc of the singer on top of the main album chart of the USA. According to the number of streaming downloads, the disc set a record for all pop albums in the history of this calculation ^[13] . In the Billboard Hot 100 charts on February 20, all 12 songs from the album Thank U, Next appeared simultaneously. Eleven of them entered the top 40, breaking the record for all female singers in simultaneously finding songs in the top 40 ^[14] . Thank U, Next continued to lead the charts in the second week with a circulation of 151,000 units. This is the first Grande album to hold Billboard 200 in first place for two weeks ^[15] .

The lead single " Thank U, Next " was released on November 3, 2018 and made its debut in the first place in the American charts Billboard Hot 100 . The next single - “ Imagine ” - was released on December 13, 2018. The second single, “ 7 Rings, ” was released on January 18, 2019.

Source ^[16]

Remarks

• ^↑ means co-producer

The album received positive reviews from music critics and online publications: Metacritic ^[17] , The Line of Best Fit ^[24] , AllMusic ^[19] , Los Angeles Times ^[25] , The Guardian ^[21] , The Independent ^[22] , Slant Magazine ^[27] .

• Ariana Grande - thank u, next // Tape. Ru , March 2, 2019