Dangerous Woman

On August 25, 2014, Grande released her second studio album My Everything, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 169,000 copies in its first week. Months after its release, Grande revealed that her third studio album could be titled Moonlight, making reference to the title in her Twitter account. Following rumors about the album's release date, Grande officially announced the lead single of Moonlight called "Focus" during her September 15, 2015 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "Focus" was released digitally on October 30, 2015. The song debuted and peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, selling 113,000 copies in its first week in the United States. In an interview to U.K. station KISS, the singer said the song was something of an outlier on the album. "That's why I put 'Focus' first, because it's the only one that sort of sounds like that." She also stated the station: "I'm excited for the next couple of months to not only finish [Moonlight] but to have actual undivided time where I can really just focus on the music." However, after months of speculation, while discussing the album's direction in interview with Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Grande revealed that she was no longer sure of the name, and that she might re-title the album after another song on the album. "A really long time ago I was convinced that it was going to be called Moonlight because its one of my favorite songs that we did for the album," the singer explained. "And now, as we're wrapping things up, of course I've been writing and singing, we're at the final stretch... now there's this other song that has thrown me for a whirlwind and I love it so much, it's changed everything." She announced the new title of the album, Dangerous Woman, on February 22, 2016, through her Snapchat and Twitter accounts. The following day, she posted a photo on Instagram with a caption quoting Egyptian feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi's 1975 novel, Woman at Point Zero as follows: "They said, 'You are a savage and dangerous woman.' I am speaking the truth. And the truth is savage and dangerous." As to why the album name was changed, Grande stated that it had to do with portraying herself as a stronger person and to empower fans, saying: "'Moonlight' is a lovely song, and it's a lovely title. It's really romantic, and it definitely ties together the old music and the new music, but 'Dangerous Woman' is a lot stronger. ... To me, a dangerous woman is someone who's not afraid to take a stand, be herself and to be honest." The album artwork features Grande wearing a latex bunny mask while portraying a very seductive image in contrast to the covers of her previous albums. In an interview with Chris Martins for Billboard, Grande explained that the cover was inspired by her alter ego, "Super Bunny" stating: "The Super Bunny is my superhero, or supervillain—whatever I'm feeling on the day. Whenever I doubt myself or question choices I know in my gut are right—because other people are telling me other things—I'm like, 'What would that bad bitch Super Bunny do?' She helps me call the shots," she said. Grande finished work on the album on January 21, 2016. == Recording and production ==

For the album's production, Grande worked with several music producers including Max Martin and Savan Kotecha who she worked with as executive producers. Grande began recording songs for the album soon after the completion of her previous album, My Everything (2014), and continued throughout the summer and fall of 2015, between stops on her Honeymoon Tour, with her friends Tommy Brown and Victoria Monét. Commenting about the album's direction, Grande stated, "It still sounds like me, but it feels like a more mature, evolved version. There's a nice blend of the R&B vibes and a nice blend of pop vibes. The whole body of work is a little darker and sexier and more mature." Grande selected Martin as a collaborator after his production work on My Everything. She complimented Martin, saying, "He's like a mathematician. He knows music like math. It just makes sense to him." Grande wrote the song "Moonlight" with Monét, who also sang backing vocals. According to Grande, "When his song comes on, it creates a physical response." Singer Macy Gray was invited to record "Leave Me Lonely" after she met with Republic Records's A&R Wendy Goldstein. In an interview with Fuse, the singer explained how the collaboration happened: "They were just in the middle of finishing the album, and they had that "Leave Me Lonely," and at the time, the person who wrote it was just singing on it, just to show whoever was gonna sing it how it would go, and so it was kind of a demo. And Wendy asked me to do it, and said 'Let me check with Ariana,' and then two days later we were in the studio and I went and cut it." == Music and lyrics ==

Dangerous Woman opens with the doo wop throwback track "Moonlight" which was then-intended title track, with Lewis Corner from Digital Spy describing the song as a "50s-inspired sway, which blossoms with its dainty string plucks and romantic violins. Critics noted that the sound present in the song is reminiscent of Grande's debut album Yours Truly. "Dangerous Woman (song)", also the lead single (replacing "Focus") and title track (replacing "Moonlight"), is a mid-tempo slow-jam pop and R&B song. The recording has a time signature that "falls neatly at the intersection of bubblegum and rock and roll. The third track "Be Alright" is a song heavily inspired by 1990's deep house and R&B, also having Chicago house, and dance-pop influences. Christopher R. Weingarten of Rolling Stone went further, calling it a "tropical house swagger-jack." "Into You" is a dance-pop song, with elements of EDM. According to Digital Spy's Lewis Corner, it features "a thudding club beat, lurking synths and sharp clicks." where "an uptempo disco backline explodes into a monstrous club-ready hook," as noted by Complex Jessie Morris. Jessica Goodman of Entertainment Weekly added that the song also has "new-age disco beats." Lyrically, the song features Grande singing of "waiting for her love interest to stop the conversation and finally make a move." "Side to Side" is a reggae-pop song that features guest vocals by Trinidadian-American rapper Nicki Minaj. In an interview with MTV News reporter Gaby Wilson, Grande explained "that whole song is about riding leading to soreness". "Let Me Love You", a duet with rapper Lil Wayne, is "a slow-paced sultry jam", having a laid back R&B melody, delicate piano chords, electro-beats, smooth, deep bass, a steady beat, trap-lite sound, hip hop beats, and interspersed vocals. example of the comparison, is the Billboards critic Katie Atkinson, who described the song as a "throwback trifle, which casts Grande as a lady Bruno Mars." "Leave Me Lonely" features guest appearance from Macy Gray, musically is an R&B track with soul influences. The music is built around a grinding, tinned dance beat and a thrumming bassline. The song's lyrics are explicit and a paean to sexual satisfaction. Grande illustrates a steamy love affair and lathers on flirtation. describing himself as a bad guy ideally suited to Grande's needs. A mash-up of this song with "Gimme More" by Britney Spears, created in 2018 by YouTube user FrenchFriMashups, started to gain popularity in 2020 on social platform TikTok. "Jason's Song (Gave It Away)" is a jazz song, co-written and produced by musician Jason Robert Brown who composed the track inspired by Broadway productions. In the song Grande sings among piano notes: "I'm no blow-up doll, no free-for-all, no slave to your decision,"/"Gotta find a way to break the spell, to get the hell away from those who block my vision." According to Elias Light from Rolling Stone the track uses a backdrop of light, cocktail soul for a declaration of independence. The song is included as an additional track on the Target version and the Japan Special Price edition of Dangerous Woman, which would later be released onto streaming services on May 20, 2021 to coincide with its 5 year anniversary. == Release and promotion ==

Grande announced the final title of the album on February 22, 2016, via her Snapchat. Two days later, she launched a website to promote her album, which featured a "Tea" section in which the singer shared new information regarding the album, as well as a "Shop" section, in which album-related merchandise was sold. The official album cover was released on March 10 via her social media accounts and on her official website. The next day, the album was made available for pre-order through the iTunes Store. On March 12, 2016, Grande was both the host and musical guest on NBC's Saturday Night Live, where she performed "Dangerous Woman" and "Be Alright". In April, Grande debuted "Leave Me Lonely" live at the grand opening of the Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena, and performed "Dangerous Woman" at the MTV Movie Awards. On May 13, 2016, Grande announced via her Instagram account that a new song from the album would be premiered exclusively on Apple Music every day until the release of the album. The songs released, in order of release, were "Everyday" featuring Future, "Greedy", "Side to Side", featuring Nicki Minaj, "Sometimes", "Leave Me Lonely", featuring Macy Gray, "Touch It", and "Bad Decisions". Grande promoted the album's release with televised performances at the Billboard Music Awards, and on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Good Morning America. On May 25, she sang "Into You" and duetted with Christina Aguilera on "Dangerous Woman" on The Voice season 10 finale. At the Summertime Ball at London's Wembley Stadium in June, Grande performed "Dangerous Woman", "Into You", and "Greedy" from the album as part of her set. Grande later performed at the MTV Video Music Awards with Minaj to promote the album's third single. She also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on September 8, 2016 and on The Ellen DeGeneres Show the same month. On November 20, 2016, at the American Music Awards, Grande performed "Side to Side" alongside Minaj, and won Artist of the Year. In December 2016, Grande was a performer at four of iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball shows. Tour Grande first announced plans to tour on the Dangerous Woman website in May 2016. On September 9, she released the dates for the first leg of the Dangerous Woman Tour, with ticket pre-sales beginning on September 20 and tickets going on general sale on September 24. The tour started on February 3, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona and ended on September 21 in Hong Kong, China. On May 22, 2017, at the conclusion of Grande's concert at Manchester Arena in England, a terrorist suicide bombing killed 22 concert-goers and injured 1,017. Grande was not injured during the bombing, and she offered her condolences through Twitter for those affected by the attack, suspending the tour through to June 5 and organizing the One Love Manchester benefit concert on 4 June to raise money for the victims. == Singles ==

The album's lead single and title track, "Dangerous Woman", was released on March 11, 2016, along with the pre-order of the album on the iTunes Store. The track earned 118,000 digital downloads in its opening week and debuted at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Grande's seventh Hot 100 top ten and fifth to debut in the top ten. The single was later sent to radio on March 15, 2016 and reached a new peak of number 8 in its eleventh week. In April 2021, "Dangerous Woman" was certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA. It was sent to US mainstream and rhythmic radio stations on June 28, 2016. The song debuted at number 83 and in its thirteenth week on the chart, dated August 27, the song further climbed nine places from 22 to a new peak of number 13 in the US, aided in part by 69-cent sale-pricing in the iTunes Store. Consequently, this became her second top 20 single from Dangerous Woman in the country. The single was later certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over 4 million in the US. Similarly, "Into You" hit the top 20 in several other regions as well. It peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart, making it her sixth UK top 20 single. "Side to Side" featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, was released on August 30, 2016 as the album's third single. It debuted at number 31 and later peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks, becoming her first top-five single from Dangerous Woman. It also became Grande's second single to top the US Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart and Minaj's first. As of March 2018, "Side to Side" has sold over 6 million equivalent units in the United States being certified sextuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Internationally, it reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and on the Canadian Hot 100, number 3 on the Australian charts and number 2 in the New Zealand charts. Its music video, directed by Hannah Lux Davis, made its premiere on American clothing brand Guess's website on August 28, 2016. "Everyday" featuring rapper Future, was released on January 10, 2017 as the album's fourth and final single. The single was serviced to rhythmic contemporary playlists in the US on January 10, 2017, and to contemporary hit radio in the US on February 14, 2017. Its lyric video was released on Vevo on February 1, 2017, and its music video on February 27, 2017. "Everyday" debuted at number eighty-five at the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached number fifty-five in April. In February 2018, "Everyday" was officially certified platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over 1 million in the US. Promotional singles The first promotional single, "Be Alright", was released on March 18, 2016. The song debuted and peaked at number 43 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The second promotional single, "Let Me Love You", featuring Lil Wayne, was released on April 18, 2016 debuting and peaking at number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100. The third promotional single, "Jason's Song (Gave It Away)" was released on September 16, 2016 following her performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. == Critical reception ==

Dangerous Woman received positive reviews from music critics. According to Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to ratings and reviews from mainstream critics, critics gave Dangerous Woman a score of 76, based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Larry Bartleet of NME wrote that apart from the "consistent songwriting clout that elevates this album from recent efforts by Grande's teen-star peers, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez" (referring to Confident and Revival, respectively), the "modish message of empowerment feels honest coming from Grande." Maeve McDermott of USA Today summarized that Dangerous Woman, "like its title suggests", is "a mature portrait of an artist blessed with one of pop's strongest voices, brimming with potential hits." For Theon Weber of Spin, "Grande is most complete on record when she's playing a diva." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine wrote that Grande "too often tries to look and sound more mature than she is,"observing that "the songs on the album's latter half are limited by their strict adherence to contemporary pop and R&B trends." In a mixed review, Christopher R. Weingarten of Rolling Stone opined that "as an album artist, she's prone to a schizophrenic sound and unfortunate sequencing," adding that "we're still no closer to figuring out who she wants to be." He also said that "her talents are wasted on meaningful-sounding but ultimately trite lyrics. However, her phrasing remains unique and powerful and pyrotechnic." Year-end lists Accolades == Commercial performance ==

In the United States, Dangerous Woman officially debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 making it her only album that failed to reach the top spot. It earned 175,000 units, with 129,000 coming from pure album sales. The album was blocked from the top spot by Drake's Views. In the second week, Dangerous Woman dropped to number six, selling another 50,000 equivalent units, while in the third week, it slipped to number seven, with 33,000 equivalent units sold. On April 12, 2021, Dangerous Woman was certified double platinum by the RIAA for combined album sales, on-demand audio, video streams and track-sale equivalent of two million units. As of June 2020, the album has sold 429,000 pure copies in the United States. In Japan, the album debuted at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart, selling 20,811 copies in its opening week, becoming Grande's highest album ranking in that region. In the second week, the album dropped to number eight, selling 11,950 copies. In the third week, it stayed at number eight, with 7,022 copies sold. As of June 2016, Dangerous Woman has sold 50,000 copies in Japan. In September, it was certified Gold for shipments of 125,000 copies in the country. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number one on the Official Albums Chart, her first number one album in the UK. The album also reached the top of the charts in several other markets, including Australia, == Track listing ==

Notes • signifies a main and vocal producer • signifies a vocal producer • Peter Carlsson is incorrectly credited as Peter Karlsson • signifies a co-producer • signifies a remixer • The Japan edition features the bonus track "Focus" as track 16 on the standard or track 18 on the deluxe edition. • The Japan Christmas edition includes a bonus disc which features the EP Christmas & Chill. • The Japan edition includes a bonus DVD which features the music and a capella video of "Dangerous Woman", and the music and lyric video of "Focus". • The 2020 Apple Music video edition includes all the singles and promotional single music videos. == Personnel ==

Adapted from album liner notes. Technical credits • Ariana Grande – vocal arranger, vocal production • Tommy Brown – engineer and programming , keyboards , percussion , bass and drums • Serban Ghenea – mixing • Tom Coyne – mastering • Aya Merrill – mastering • Peter Lee Johnson – strings • Christopher Truio – engineer • Nicholas Audino – engineer ; programming, keyboards, bass, percussion, and drums • John Hanes – mixing engineer • Steven Franks – programming , keyboards , guitar , percussion , drums • Dernst Emile II – bass • Johan Carlsson – guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, synthesizers, tambourine, programming, and guitar solo • Max Martin – programming ; keyboards, guitar, bass, and percussion ; additional programming and keyboards • Peter Karlsson – engineer , vocal editing • Sam Holland – engineer • Cory Brice – engineer • Khaled Rohaim – programming, keyboard, bass, and percussion • Savan Kotecha – vocal engineer • Ilya Salmanzadeh – programming, keyboards, bass, and percussion ; guitar ; additional programming and keyboards • Aubry "Big Juice" Delaine – engineer for Nicki Minaj verse • Joel Metzler – assistant engineer for Nicki Minaj verse • Jordon Silva – assistant engineer for Nicki Minaj verse • Mattias Bylund – string arrangement, strings, strings engineer, and strings editing • Mattias Johansson – violin • David Bukovinszky – cello • Jonas Thander – horn arrangement, horn engineer, and saxophone • Staffan Findin – trombone • Karl Olandersson – trumpet • Stefan Persson – trumpet • Thomas Parker Lumpkins – programming • Christopher Trujillo – engineer • Jeremy Lertola – guitar • Peter Svensson – programming, keyboards, guitar, bass, and percussion • Travis Sayles – programming, keyboards, and bass • Michael Foster – programming and percussion • Ryan "Ryghteous" Tedder – programming, keyboards, and bass • Loren Mann II – additional drums • Josh Connelly – guitar • Ali Payami – programming, keyboards, guitar, bass, and percussion • Billboard – programming, keyboards, bass, and percussion == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts == Certifications ==