#micro thesis raps

[reeses-picks]

Ariana Grande’s thank u, next is a formidable display of self

In many ways, thank u, next feels like a sequel to its predecessor, but where Sweetener was a study in optimism and musical daring, thank u, next is a formidable display of self, centering on Ariana Grande the personality and the artist, marked by not only her contradictions but also her musical sensibilities. One is left with an admiration for her self-assuredness amidst such harrowing times.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ - a Reese’s Pick

The universe has a cruel way of functioning: five and a half months ago, Ariana Grande was coasting on the highs of the release of her fourth record, Sweetener, and her whirlwind engagement with comedian Pete Davidson, following her exit from a “toxic” relationship with Mac Miller. Sweetener itself, which contains 2018’s best song, was a masterful display of relentless optimism and musical daring, featuring a smile that never slips and some of Grande’s career-best work (with help from Pharrell, who was perhaps cleaning out his hard drive).

In the next two months, that would all change: Miller would die of substance abuse in September, and Grande and Davidson would dissolve their engagement the following month. Both men are haunting presences on thank u, next, Grande’s new album, whose title track, an ultimate ode to self-love, has already been considered mythic. In many ways, thank u, next feels like a sequel to its predecessor, but where Sweetener was relentlessly optimistic in its subject matter and remarkably audacious in its production, thank u, next is a formidable display of self in both senses. The record puts her front and center: a woman of human contradictions and precocious musical sensibilities, buttressed by fellow musical talents with a knack for capturing the times.

Not only is thank u, next an account of the next chapter of Grande’s life, but it also feels like a logical next step musically: after having help exploring the various facets of her voice (and, by extension, herself), she – still a relative novelty among her competition – is making her own Ariana Grande record, bearing a writing credit on every one of the record’s 12 tracks, on which she is also credited as an executive and vocal producer. It is her personality that the record orbits around, which somewhat accounts for the staggering thematic and tonal differences between some adjacent tracks: she confesses to constantly wanting companionship (“needy”) but later asks her beau for some space (“NASA”); she verges on manipulative on one track (“make up”) but earnestly apologizes on the next (“ghostin”); the vulnerable tone of the title track stands in stark contrast to the flippancy of “break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored”. These conflicting traits aren’t particularly endearing, but their appearance on the album humanizes the woman behind them, peeling back the curtain a bit, if only briefly.

In Grande’s company are some of her closest friends and most longtime collaborators, namely songwriters Victoria Monét and Tayla Parx, producer Tommy Brown, and Max Martin et al., who turn Grande’s ideas into clever turns of phrase and accompany them with up-to-date melodies. Standing next to Pharrell creations on Sweetener, the Max Martin half of that record always felt sort of inferior, never as risky or as smart as its counterpart, and while his tracks on thank u, next aren’t much different, the slick productions on highlights “bloodline” (brass section!) and “bad idea” (that outro!) are a reminder that we may yet see the end of Martin. Brown and Monét, who orchestrated some of Grande’s best songs (“Honeymoon Avenue”, “Moonlight”, “Be Alright” etc.), are instrumental in the making of thank u, next, making strange but intriguing wordplay in “NASA” and “make up” and turning therapeutic acceptance into chart-topper in “thank u, next”. Andrew “Pop” Wansel, who wrote Nicki Minaj’s stunning “The Crying Game”, helps pen the defiant thesis of Grande’s present M.O. (“fake smile”) and articulates falling in love with the idea of a person with equal parts grace and savagery (“in my head”).

Despite this number of people working on this album, thank u, next is easily Grande’s most sonically cohesive and consistent full-length effort. The album frequently toggles between tempos, temperaments, and musical schools of thought, but its soundscape is decidedly and reliably current with trap at the center, sprinkled with instantly recognizable references (“Highlight of my life, like that Fenty Beauty kit”) and Instagram-worthy lines (“You could say ‘I love you’ through the phone tonight”). This speaks to Grande and her team’s ability to capture the zeitgeist, in ways that most of today’s female pop frontrunners cannot. Also contributing to the of-the-moment nature of thank u, next is the comfort with which Grande moves between various vocal modes and ways of delivery, which she inherits from Sweetener and further hones on this record. Her usual acrobatics can be found on “imagine” and “fake smile”, but most of her performances on thank u, next feature her voice coasting lightly just above the production, a sort of weightlessness achievable only by an artist who, in her words, no longer has much to be afraid of. What truly places her in the new pop landscape, however, is her proficiency in styles previously inaccessible to vocalists of her ability, particularly rap, her capability of which she showed tentatively on some Sweetener cuts and which she shows with aplomb here. “7 rings” sounds like a rap song with a featured vocalist, Grande’s performance immediately drawing comparisons to Soulja Boy and Princess Nokia (rousing plagiarism accusations from them as well). Throwback or theft, that her rap is so convincing is a testament to her abilities. Elsewhere, “fake smile” uses the same sample as Wu-Tang Clan’s “Tearz” – Wendy Rene’s “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” – to preface a personal but presently universal refusal to hide one’s unhappiness.

Unsurprisingly, the cuts that feel the most weightless end up being the most harrowing. “needy” sounds almost like it’s designed to be fleeting. Done and dusted before the three-minute mark, the album’s second track is, in many ways, a micro-transgression unto itself: it’s a forthright admission of a want for emotional connection that society considers damning, but it argues that to criticize that craving would be a self-own (“I know how good it feels to be needed”); not least of all, it knows its job and that it’s achieved its objective, so it does away with the final third of the song entirely. Still, nothing on this record beats “ghostin”, where it feels something has clicked in Grande’s head. To an extent, “ghostin” is the converse to “needy”: “ghostin” almost purposely crawls through its 4 minutes and 31 seconds, and it seems designed to linger. In a particularly Swiftian move, the Mac Miller sample at the beginning of the track tells you all you need to know. With not so many words, Grande begins to break down her feelings of guilt for her still harboring feelings for another one and at one point even suggests feigning ignorance, which we all know now is impossible. The song’s emotional climax comes at the final minute, where words are long forgotten and we are left with the auditory equivalent of a bed of clouds that keeps ascending until it disperses, as if mirroring Grande’s own moment of catharsis.

Wrapping up thank u, next is the cheekily, instantly memorably titled “break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored”, whose position on the album closely mirrors that of “Formation” on Lemonade. But rather than taking on any social commentary, the former offers Grande’s own commentary on the preceding chapter of her life and a window into her humor, and might even serve as more fitting a conclusion to the record than the title track would. It is rather unexpected that after such a harrowing time in her life, she would be eager to jump right back into the game (with such a dangerous premise at that), but upon another look, the track’s appearance reveals Grande as remarkably self-assured, confident that she will never fall down such a spiral again – or maybe she will, sad as that sounds. Nevertheless, there’s not much she’s afraid of anymore.

[womdquasicause-blog]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Super Mario (@supermarioworld1985)

Part 3 The Manhattan Project:X+Y=Z...The Geometry of Causality/Space-Time...This is not the Class this is just the lesson plan...dont be intemidated by a little DeltaX and DeltaT...its just a little geometry and astrophysics..no biggie...ill translate it for you...a liitle example of The Geometry of Casualty...So...The Only reason you can see and enjoy this Project is because special relativity states that nothing outside of the quantum world can travel faster than the speed of light...to travel faster than the speed of light would be to change your Space-time Interval...to change your Space-Time Interval would be to travel bsvkwards in Space-Time which violates the laws of physics and is conceivable outside the quantum world...the way we perceive reality is based of the speed of light...you turn off the lights...no reality....to put that concept as simple as possible in this micro-thesis...stay tuned...just making sure the graphics match the eloquence of the content...all i can say is "SHEESH SHEESH" #physics #geometry #causality #music #bayarea #media #like4like #love #lasvegas #french #entrepreneur #videography #weareart #abstract #abstractart #freelancer #manofsteel #actor #acting #comedy #art #superman #bayareaartist #music #versace #tvshowtime #rap #music #dance #physics #largehadroncollider (at Richmond, California)