Ariana Grande would never have become the era-defining pop artist we know today if she had been timid or repressed in dealing with her emotions. This is the artist who, on 'Eternal Sunshine,' seriously sang 'This situationship has to end' while processing the dissolution of her marriage. The same one who on 'Thank U, Next' casually dropped the line 'Look at you, boy, I invented you' – recorded after ending an engagement with someone whose name adorns a song on 'Sweetener.' The same one who released 'Positions.'

Without 'Dangerous Woman,' none of these albums would have been possible. Ten years after its release, the singer's third studio album stands as a cornerstone of her development into the most significant voice in pop – both figuratively and literally: 'Greedy' is likely the loudest song she has ever recorded. But above all, 'Dangerous Woman' was crucial in determining which stories Grande could tell with that unwavering voice and which emotions she could convey through it. The album placed the future of pop in her hands.

Nicki Minaj rapped on the album's most successful single 'Side to Side': 'Young Ariana run pop.' It would take two more years for Grande to achieve her first number-one hit – 'Thank U, Next' topped the charts in 2018 – yet Minaj's statement hit the mark. Pop music was in a state of transition in 2016: Rihanna and Beyoncé cemented their legacies with 'Anti' and 'Lemonade,' respectively. The charts were largely dominated by Drake and Justin Bieber. The Chainsmokers and Meghan Trainor also enjoyed major success. But no one operated in the same terrain as Grande. Having an extraordinary voice is one thing. Mastering it the way she does on 'Dangerous Woman' is quite another.

'Into You' as a Blueprint

'Into You' is one of the most compelling examples of an instant classic in modern pop history. 'The first line, that "I'm so into you / I can barely breathe" – that's maybe the closest I've ever heard to pop perfection,' Lorde said a few days after 'Into You' was released as the second single from 'Dangerous Woman.' Grande sings that line in a low tone, not quite a whisper, but equally fragile and breathless. As she approaches the explosive first chorus, her voice draws closer and closer until it fills the entire song with a daring demand: 'Baby, come light me up.' The rapturous bridge lifts the song from extraordinary to masterful.

'Touch It' is similarly dizzying from start to finish. Whenever it sounds as if the song has reached its peak, she adds another layer – with relentless ascents and breathtaking vocal runs. The muffled drums on 'Thinking Bout You,' the album's closing track, mimic an excited heartbeat. Airy harmonies hover just behind the beat around Grande as she reaches for an imaginary embrace, and the song culminates in an explosive bridge. 'I've been waiting patient, patiently / 'Cause I don't have you here with, here with, here with me,' she sings. Then comes the euphoric release: 'But at least I have the memory.' This sounds like a natural precursor to 'Imagine' from 'Thank U, Next' or 'Better Off' from 'Sweetener' – songs you need to close your eyes to truly hear and, as a result, to feel.

She created the majority of the album alongside Max Martin, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Savan Kotecha, and Tommy Brown. With credits on 10 of the 15 songs, she was more involved in the writing process than ever before in her career. Today, Grande works as a writer and co-producer alongside Martin and Salmanzadeh, who have become her closest confidants. Her now unmistakable vocal production style – layering airy harmonies in intricate arrangements – first began to crystallize on 'Dangerous Woman.' Likewise, her narrative voice. Grande intuitively understands how pop has functioned over the past ten years – not only as an art form but as a kind of archive of the artist's life.

Feminism and Self-Assertion

As an album title, 'Dangerous Woman' is as direct as the pop records that preceded it – Rihanna's 'Good Girl Gone Bad' or Christina Aguilera's 'Stripped.' Importantly, the discourse surrounding nearly every woman in pop a decade ago was inextricably linked to an expected performance of feminism. Something as natural as expressing one's own sexuality was portrayed as a radical act instead of simply allowing women to, well, exist. Yet 'Dangerous Woman' rarely feels as if it is trying too hard to present Grande in a new light – even in the moments that have aged less gracefully. The assertion 'We got that hood love / We got that good love / We got that hot love' on 'Bad Decisions' is punctuated with a knowing wink: 'Ain't you ever seen a princess be a bad bitch?'

At just 22 years old, she built tension around her pop persona. In the second half of 'Knew Better / Forever Boy' – a two-part piece that processes a breakup, moves on, and falls in love again within five minutes – Grande sings: 'Never been with a boy more than six months / I couldn't do it, got too used to it.' This is not a confession but a simple fact. This attitude later gives rise to 'The Boy Is Mine' and 'Twilight Zone' on 'Eternal Sunshine,' where she sings: 'Why do I still protect you? / Pretend these songs aren't about you / Hope this might be the last one / 'Cause I'm not fooling anyone.' There is a special intimacy in the way she sings about relationships: direct in delivery, but not naive about her audience's curiosity. The first line we hear on 'Let Me Love You,' a seductive collaboration with Lil Wayne, is: 'I just broke up with my ex.'

Pop seemed to fully embrace Grande only with 'Sweetener' and 'Thank U, Next' – when she was catapulted into the highest echelons of the genre and it became impossible to separate the story of her life from her music. The bombing at her Manchester concert during the 'Dangerous Woman' tour in 2017 and the death of her former partner and collaborator Mac Miller in 2018 cast a heavy shadow of grief over her career. With each new release, the public greeted her with an exaggerated fragility that ignored the toughness she had demonstrated on 'Dangerous Woman.' Her fearlessness on the album was not a reaction to trauma or tragedy – getting back up and moving forward has always been the way she kept herself grounded.

Underestimated Foundation

The bluesy 'I Don't Care' is among the most underrated cuts on 'Dangerous Woman.' It is a clear precursor to 'Shut Up' on 'Positions' and 'True Story' on 'Eternal Sunshine' – not only sonically but thematically. 'Now I laugh about the things that used to be important to me / Used to have a hold on me,' she sings. 'Like what do you think, and what he thinks, and what they think / But I love me.' In the years following 'Dangerous Woman,' Grande would need this inner strength more urgently. The ability to block out the noise prevented it from overpowering her voice. This focus allowed her to sharpen her skills as a songwriter and producer while the artistic metamorphosis that began on 'Dangerous Woman' reached its completion.

'Dangerous Woman' transformed Grande from a hitmaker into a tastemaker. She seemed temporarily comfortable in the first role. The album was originally supposed to be called 'Moonlight' – after the doo-wop-inspired ballad that opens it. 'Focus,' the horn-heavy standalone single from 2015, was initially planned as the lead single. But both songs revisited territory Grande had already staked out. 'Focus,' ultimately removed entirely from the album, would have been better suited for the 2014 work 'My Everything' alongside 'One Last Time,' 'Problem,' and 'Break Free.' 'Moonlight,' meanwhile, pointed back to her 2013 debut 'Your Truly.' 'Dangerous Woman' had to be different. Her shift in direction brought the underlying R&B influence of her early releases to the surface without abandoning her place in pop.

Anyone surprised by her full commitment to this intersection on 'Positions' was not paying attention when it mattered. 'She is now at the peak of her abilities as a tastemaker, as a songwriter. From all her successes she has learned: what her voice is, what works for her,' Kotecha said in 2019 after the release of 'Thank U, Next' about Grande. 'If the producer or engineer doesn't understand what she wants in the vocal arrangement, she simply says, "Can I jump in?" Then she goes into Pro Tools and fixes it. She masters this craft like a pro. I have been in the studio with some of the greatest singers of all time. I have never seen anything like this.'

'Petal' and the Old Ethos

In July, Grande will release her eighth album, 'Petal.' 'It definitely comes from a place that maybe I was too shy or too polite to enter before,' she said about the work. 'It just feels now like: fuck it.' It is the same ethos that characterized 'Dangerous Woman' – when Grande first recognized that shyness and politeness would never serve her as well as the unflinching existence of an absolute pop powerhouse.

Ariana Grande's journey from 'Dangerous Woman' to her forthcoming 'Petal' illustrates a decade of artistic evolution. The boldness she displayed on her third album was not an anomaly but the beginning of a consistent approach to music-making that prioritizes authenticity and technical mastery. From the defiant confidence of 'Into You' to the introspective vulnerability of 'Eternal Sunshine,' Grande has continually pushed boundaries while maintaining the vocal prowess that sets her apart. Her willingness to experiment with genre, from the R&B-infused tracks on 'Dangerous Woman' to the trap-pop of 'Sweetener' and the soulful balladry of 'Positions,' has kept her at the forefront of pop culture. As she prepares to release 'Petal,' fans can expect another chapter that challenges conventions and cements her legacy as one of the most influential artists of her generation. The foundation laid by 'Dangerous Woman' remains as vital today as it was a decade ago.

Source: Rolling Stone News