Dangerous Woman


Dangerous Woman is the third studio album by American singer Ariana Grande, released by Republic Records on May 20, 2016. The album features guest appearances from Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Macy Gray and Future. Dangerous Woman is primarily a pop and R&B record, with influences of dance-pop, disco, house, trap, and reggae genres. Grande, Max Martin, and Savan Kotecha were the album's executive producers. The album was originally called Moonlight after the opening track on the album, with the song "Focus", released as a single in 2015, being the intended lead single. However, the album's name was later changed to Dangerous Woman, with "Focus" being removed from the album's standard track listing, though it remained as a bonus track on the Japanese deluxe edition of the album.
Dangerous Woman debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, with 175,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, of which 129,000 come from pure sales. It was Grande's first album to not reach number one in the US. However, it became her first number one album in the UK. It also reached number one in Australia, Brazil, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand and Spain. In October 2016, Dangerous Woman was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. "Dangerous Woman", was released on March 11, 2016 and peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The following singles, "Into You", "Side to Side" and "Everyday", peaked at numbers 13, 4 and 55 on the Hot 100, respectively.
Dangerous Woman received positive reviews from critics, appearing on the year-end lists of several publications. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album. To promote the album, Grande embarked on a worldwide concert tour entitled the Dangerous Woman Tour, starting on February 3, 2017 and ending on September 21, 2017.

Background and conception

On August 25, 2014, Grande released her second studio album My Everything, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and it 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 the 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 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 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 latex bunny mask whilst 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 Super Bunny costume: "The Super Bunny is my superhero, or supervillain—whatever I'm feeling on the day", says Grande. "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 producer.
Grande began recording songs for the album soon after the completion of her previous album, My Everything, 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 collaborators after his production on My Everything, she complimented Martin, saying, "He's like a mathematician. He knows music like math. It just makes sense to him." The musician Ilya Salmanzadeh contributed to the album producing and writing songs with Martin, Grande, Kotecha and Alexander Kronlund, they developed several tracks present in the album, including "Into You, "Side to Side", "Greedy", "Everyday", "Bad Decisions" and "Touch It", while the title track was produced by Johan Carlsson and Martin. All songs were recorded at MXM Studios in Los Angeles, California and Wolf Cousins Studios in Stockholm, Sweden and mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios. Brown and Monét worked collectively as TBHits, one of their first productions recorded for the album was "Moonlight", Grande wrote the song with Monét, she described the song as "the most special song I've to that day." They also produced "Be Alright", "Let Me Love You", "Leave Me Lonely", "I Don't Care" and "Knew Better/Forever Boy", all the songs were recorded at Vietom Studios.
The album features guest appearances by several hip hop artists such as Lil Wayne, Future and Nicki Minaj ; About the choice of collaborators, Grande said: "I love working with artists people don't expect me to work with." During the recording sessions for "Everyday" Grande wanted to work with Future, but felt it wasn't the right thing because of the differences between them: "I knew I wanted to work with Future, but I didn't know if we could find the right song to do together because we're so different, but we found a dope vibe and it's very unique and exciting," she said. According to Grande, "When his song comes on, it creates a physical response." Grande included Nicki Minaj on "Side to Side," stating "I love working with her". 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

The album opens with the doo wop throwback track "Moonlight", 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. The reviewer from Sputnikmusic described it as "oozing with 1950s vibes and allowing Ariana's gorgeous vocals to do all the heavy lifting." The writer compared the song to the Yours Truly song "Tattooed Heart", commenting that "although it functions as a serviceable opener, it lacks that addictingly sweet chorus to elevate it beyond being just a pretty introduction to the record." "Dangerous Woman", also the lead single and title track, 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", while having an arena rock chorus and a guitar solo in its bridge. The third track "Be Alright" is a song heavily inspired by 1990's deep house, also having Chicago house, and dance-pop influences. Christopher R. Weingarten of Rolling Stone went further, calling it a "tropical house swagger-jack." Lyrically, "Be Alright" is a carefree song about being. During the first lines, she sings: "Midnight shadows / When finding love is a battle / But daylight, is so close / So don't you worry 'bout a thing." "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." It starts with "a minimal club beat" before "crescendoing into thumping chorus," 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 features guest vocals by Trinidadian-American rapper Nicki Minaj. Lyrically, it talks about soreness after sex. 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. Lyrically, "Let Me Love You" talks about getting over an ex and laying on the chest of someone new. While "lying on some hunk's chest", she's just chilling and "looking for love", mostly "a one-night stand". The disco-pop song "Greedy" received positive comments by music critics, who praised its production comparing to Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk featuring Bruno Mars. An 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. Describing the song, Brittany Spanos from Rolling Stone wrote, "if you combined these songs with similarly retro material from her debut record you could probably make a good case for Grande as a rock-friendly voice that could be critically adored like "Adele" or "Amy Winehouse"."
"Everyday" featuring rapper Future, is a woozy electropop and trap song. 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. During his verse, Future raps about lavish vacations and late-night endeavors, describing himself as a bad guy ideally suited to Grande's needs.
The tenth track "Sometimes" was described by Lewis Corner of Digital Spy as an R&B song; Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club noted the song features folky acoustic guitar flourishes, distracting electronic production and vocal effects. While "I Don't Care" was described by Rolling Stone editor Christopher Weingarten as a Chicago soul-influenced song, it opens with strings that drop off in the first verse, where Grande sings among clips and R&B beats: "I used to let some people tell me how to live and what to be/But if I can't be me, the fuck's the point?" NMEs Larry Bartlet noted the song is "genuinely satisfying to hear her put that sentiment on record so resoundingly". In "Bad Decisions", Grande sings, "I've been doing stupid things, wilder than I've ever been," with Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times noting that "a tune whose message initially appears clear: I sinned, I'm sorry, let's move on. She blames the behavior on a boy, then admits she's enjoying it." Musically, "Bad Decisions" is a hip hop number. "Touch It" is an EDM-inspired song, Grande sings the chorus over a "scuzzy bassline", as noted by Lewis Corner of Digital Spy. Maeve McDermott of USA Today described the song as "dramatic and dark" and noted a sound comparable to works of R&B artist The Weeknd. "Knew Better / Forever Boy" consists of two integrated songs, which last for a duration of 4:59. The first part of the song is the R&B "Knew Better", which pairs Grande's distorted vocals with "pounding" synths. The second part is the deep house "Forever Boy". The last track of the album is the ballad "Thinking Bout You", the song features a pulsating "thudding kick beat." Being the last song on the album, it closes out on a high note and a sudden stop immediately after the chorus.
The Japanese version & the Target deluxe edition features 2 new songs. "Step on Up" is a drum filled pop song with live drums and blaring saxophones used in its instrumentation. "Jason's Song " is a jazz song, co-written and produced by musician Jason Robert Brown who composed the track inspiring 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 Japanese Special Price edition of ''Dangerous Woman.

Release and promotion

Grande announced the final title of the album on February 22, 2016, via her Snapchat. Two days later, Grande launched a website to promote her album, which features a "Tea" section in which the singer shares new information regarding the album, as well as a "Shop" section, in which album-related merchandise is sold. The official album cover was released on March 10 via Grande's 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. 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, 2016, the singer released the dates for the first leg of the Dangerous Woman Tour, with ticket pre-sales beginning on September 20, 2016 and tickets going on general sale on September 24, 2016. The tour started on February 3, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona and ended on September 21, 2017 in Hong Kong.
On May 22, 2017, at the conclusion of Grande's concert at Manchester Arena in England, a terrorist attack caused 22 fatalities and left more than 500 others injured. Grande was not injured during the bombing. She offered her condolences on Twitter for those affected by the attack and organized the One Love Manchester benefit concert 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 made Grande the first artist in the chart's 57-year history to debut in the top 10 with the lead single from each of her first three albums. The single was later sent to radio on March 15, 2016 and reached a new peak of number 8 in its eleventh week. In October 2017, "Dangerous Woman" was certified triple platinum by the RIAA. It was nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 59th Grammy Awards.
The second single, "Into You" was released at digital music services on May 6, 2016. 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 triple platinum by the RIAA for shipments of over 3 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 4 million equivalent units in the United States being certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. 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 " 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". Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for AllMusic that "track by track, Dangerous Woman has sly, subtle distinctions – a little bit of torch gives way to some heavy hip only to have frothy pop surface again", and that "while some of these cuts work better than others, the range is impressive, as is Grande's measured, assured performance." In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Nolan Feeney commented that while Grande's previous album, My Everything, "suffered for trying to be everything", on Dangerous Woman, "with a streamlined team of hitmakers such as Max Martin, she pulls off pop, R&B, reggae, and house—all without overextending herself or pandering to trends". The A.V. Club's Annie Zaleski agreed, stating that the album "possesses more personality than 'My Everything'," and writes in conclusion that "'Dangerous Woman' is an effortless leap forward on which Grande comes into her own as a vocalist and performer." Lewis Corner from Digital Spy noted that Grande "ultimately pulled together a consistent collection that impressively manages to keep your attention over 15 tracks." Mikael Wood, writing for the Los Angeles Times, found it "impressive how fully she inhabits the emotional environment of each song" on the album.
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", the "modish message of empowerment feels honest coming from Grande." Michael Cragg from The Observer noted that during her successful previous album she had lost her identity in the process, but in comparison, he noted that the album is a "refinement of her sound", and concluded that "held together by Grande's skyscraping voice, Dangerous Woman throws a lot at the wall and, brilliantly, most of it sticks." Erik Ernst of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opined that "like much of the disc, it's an unexpected, but remarkable, choice from a confident pop star ready to set her own path to the top." 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." Quinn Moreland of Pitchfork viewed that "Grande does not need to force any sort of spirit, she is full of it already. She just needs to find the Dangerous Woman within herself and let her break free."
The Plain Dealer's Troy L. Smith wrote that the album "plays it safe and smart", explaining it "functions as 'My Everything 2.0' – a collection of pitch-perfect hooks and slick production built in the mold of Mariah Carey." 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, behind Views by Drake. It earned 175,000 units, with 129,000 coming from pure album sales. 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 October 28, 2016, Dangerous Woman was certified Platinum by the RIAA for combined album sales, on-demand audio, video streams and track-sale equivalent of 1 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, and 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 China, the album has sold over 2.1 million digital copies.
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, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Spain.
In the year-end charts, Dangerous Woman was placed as the twenty-eighth best selling album of 2016, according to IFPI, selling 900,000 copies worldwide that year.

Track listing

Notes
The European deluxe/limited edition box set includes:
The Japanese deluxe edition includes:
The Japanese Christmas edition includes:
Adapted from album liner notes.
Vocal credits
Technical credits

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australian Albums 67
Canadian Albums 26
Danish Albums 46
French Albums 176
Japanese Albums 79
Mexican Albums 57
New Zealand Albums 31
Swedish Albums 45
UK Albums 66
US Billboard 20038

Chart Position
Australian Albums 89
UK Albums 100
US Billboard 200162

Chart Position
Belgian Albums 171
US Billboard 200192

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history