Ariana Grande is unstoppable right now. Say what you want about the quality of her music (we have), but the hitmaker knows what her audience is looking for and she delivers every time. Her latest, “7 Rings,” includes a surprising/creepy sample of The Sound of Music classic “My Favorite Things,” but with a hip-hop beat and a noticeable absence of raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Instead, there’s an abundance of champagne, diamonds, and hair extensions.

The video is a callback to a 90’s house party, but with a futuristic twist. Where you’d usually see rappers in gold chains surrounded by scantily clad dancers, you see Ariana and her all-girl posse in a surreal world where it’s hard to even imagine the existence of man. The song is something of a victory lap for the singer, celebrating her success: “I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it.” She continues, “Wearing a ring but not ’cause I’m no Mrs./Bought matching diamonds for six of my bitches/I’d rather spoil my friends with my riches.” While in general we’re tired of pop songs with lyrics that serve no purpose but to remind the audience of the singer’s “bands,” in this case, we can’t help but respect the obvious message of female independence.

The song is by no means groundbreaking or even particularly memorable, but it blows “thank u, next” out of the water in terms of quality of production and creativity. And besides, Ariana Grande fans don’t care if the music is good. Being an Ariana Grande fan is about unquestioning devotion, tight ponytails, a bandwagon the size of the Titanic, and enjoying occasionally decent songs that you cling to like a mast in a storm of mediocrity.

Ariana Grande – 7 ringswww.youtube.com

Brooke Ivey Johnson is a Brooklyn based writer, playwright, and human woman. To read more of her work visit her blog or follow her twitter @BrookeIJohnson.

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