“Whoever said money can’t solve your problems/ must not have had enough money to solve them”Īnd of course, the whole song is set to a creepy remix of “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music.“Happiness is the same price as red-bottoms”.She uses wealth to mask her trauma in other verses, including: She remarks that she’s “been through some bad shit, I should be a sad bitch” then goes on to say “who woulda though it’d turn me to a savage” before moving on to talk about writing checks. But any serious acknowledgment of this pain is dispensed with in “7 Rings.” Her album “sweetener” rings with the effects of this trauma, making it one of her most light-hearted and also most emotional albums. She survived the Manchester Arena Bombing, her ex-boyfriend died from a drug overdose, and she had an enormously public engagement and breakup with Pete Davidson. What I take issue with, however, is that Grande tries to equate this luxurious lifestyle to an unattainable happiness in order to mask the trauma she’s suffered in the past few years. She should be able to do all those things and brag about them if she wants to with the same impunity as male artists. She implores listeners to “look at my neck, look at my jet” and then puts them in their place, reminding them that they “ain’t got enough money to pay me respect.” In terms of gender parity, I’m ecstatic that Grande is wealthy and successful enough to have creative control over her art, own an expensive house, and buy her friends diamond rings. While some have described “7 Rings” as an empowering break-up song, Pitchfork’s Jamieson Cox described it as “a sharp, red-bottomed stiletto heel that punctures the fantasy that Grande is just like you.” Unlike Grande’s song “successful,” which also referenced her fame and accomplishments, “7 Rings” is less of well-deserved victory lap than a soulless itemization of her expensive lifestyle. None of these adjectives could be applied to her follow-up song “7 Rings.” It’s mature, gracious, humble, and empowering. Whether or not you believe it was a well-timed publicity stunt, “thank u, next” still resonates with poignant emotion. In the song, Grande reminisces about past relationships and thanks her exes for the lessons they taught her, wrapping the song with the notion that after all of these relationships, she’s finally found herself. Grande released “thank u, next” after the breakdown of her extremely public engagement with Pete Davidson. If you peruse the rest of Grande’s catalog, you’ll find songs about relationships, sex, family, and love, but not another song like “7 Rings.” It’s such an anomaly in her repertoire, especially coming after her song “thank u, next.” Cardi B raps “I like dollars, I like diamonds” in her hit song “I Like It”, while Drake waxes on about “baguettes in his ice” in “Sicko Mode.” Brand dropping and wealth flaunting have always been staples of rap music as a way of building credibility, but it’s rarer to hear a pop singer rhapsodize about how her “black card is business card.” Unlike rap, pop isn’t a genre that demands statements of extravagancy in return for success. The “Top 40” hits are saturated with similar verses. Of course, Grande isn’t alone in her materialistic lyrics. That’s the role of an advertisement, not a pop song. What I find most disturbing about Grande’s contribution to the trend is that her song earnestly promotes consumption as an antidote to grief, unhappiness, and trauma. “But wait,” you might be thinking, “isn’t a lot of music devoted to the buying and flaunting of things?” Of course it is. My problem lies with the message, which can be boiled down to the shameless promotion of a life devoted solely to the buying and flaunting of things. I have no quibble with the musicality of the song, for like most of Grande’s tunes, it’s a true bop. For my friends who do reside ‘neath a boulder, here’s the song. Hello, everyone! Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably listened to Ariana Grande’s new song “7 Rings.” Based on Grande’s relatable experience of drunkenly purchasing seven engagement rings for her friends at Tiffany’s, the song celebrates sisterhood, self-care, and self-made millions.