Review Summary: Lackluster production and awkward hip-hop guest spots drag down Ariana Grande's stellar vocal performance on "My Everything".
Ariana Grande has risen from Nickelodeon star that dabbled in pop music to full-blown pop superstar in just a years time. Grande's rare vocal talent and collaborations with other high-profile artists such as Mac Miller and Iggy Azalea have allowed to not only dominate the pop world, but crossover into other genre's fanbases with ease. While Grande's second full-length, “My Everything”, is sure to further expand her rapidly-growing following, it ultimately fails to live up to the hype and Grande's potential as an artist.
As you would expect, the vocals on “My Everything” are phenomenal throughout. Not since Lady Gaga has a pop vocalist delivered consistently potent vocals or shown a wider range than Grande does. Unfortunately, just about everything else surrounding Grande's vocals manages to underwhelm. The mostly lackluster production throughout is without a doubt “My Everything's” biggest crutch. Based on the thumping, wildly catchy production of lead single "Problem", I expected this to be a really well-produced record, but "Problem" ended being the sole highlight from a production standpoint. The rest of the record Grande spends time experimenting with everything from electropop ("Break Free", "One Last Time") to piano ballads ("My Everything", "Just A Little Bit of Your Heart") with very little success. I'll give Grande points for diversity, but not a single one of the styles she tries suits her voice well at all. The production on "Problem" made Grande's powerhouse vocals pop that much more. The rest of the production on “My Everything” shifts between generic EDM-pop beats that can't be saved no matter how good the vocals are and piano-driven slow jams that lack any sort of emotion or energy, making them an absolute chore to sit through. Tackling multiple genres is well within Grande's vocal skill set, she just needs the quality production to make her multi-genre ambitions work.
Grande's frequent collaborations with hip-hop stars also don't mesh well with her sound. Iggy Azalea and Childish Gambino sounds completely out of their element on "Problem" and "Break Your Heart Right Back" respectively. The energy and tenacity Azalea and Gambino typically bring on the mic is completely missing, and neither one of their guest spots serves as anything but an unnecessary detour from Grande's singing. While Azalea and Gambino fall short of their potential on their verses, it's nothing compared to the colossal failure A$AP Ferg has on "Hands on Me". On paper, a collaboration between Grande and Ferg sounded oddly intriguing. Now that I've heard the finished product, I wish this song had never been recorded. Ferg tries to alter his gritty trap style on this track to fit Grande's radio-friendly sound and as a result, ends up sounding very uncomfortable and awkward on the mic. Because of this self-inflicted mainstream assimilation, Ferg loses everything that's special about him as his typically dynamic flow becomes stilted and dull here. Hopefully Ferg will learn from his failed first jaunt into mainstream pop music and not try to invent a new identity whenever he collaborates with a non hip-hop artist.
The only collab on this record that can be deemed a real success is "Love Me Harder"- which features Canadian crooner The Weeknd. The Weeknd's dreamlike falsetto vocals sounds fantastic alongside Grande's and the last minute of the track where the pair trade off vocal lines is easily the most poignant moment of the entire record. "Love Me Harder" is a reminder of just how great Grande can be when given the right beat and works with a collaborator that gels with her style.
“My Everything” is a wildly uneven listen that fails to capitalize on the strength of Grande's vocals. The few highlights on here flash serious potential and are a master class in pop songwriting, but the middling material that takes up most of the record makes this album frustratingly forgettable on the whole. Grande has the tools to be one of the greats in this genre, and at age 21 with only two LP's under her belt, she has plenty of time to realize her potential and truly flourish as an artist.
