18 7.07 Don't Call Me Angel (Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus & Lana Del Rey)

Highest: Wall, Josh!, Jade (10) / Lowest: George.keh (1)

 

Another 2019 release drops out now as we slide into the top half of the countdown. Don't Call Me Angel was the lead single from the Charlie's Angels soundtrack, announced several months before the song actually surfaced. Ariana collaborates with Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey to represent Charlie's Angels themselves, much like Destiny's Child did on Independent Women Pt. I. The track received a lukewarm reception, and though it charted highly in its first week (#2 UK, #13 US), it didn't show much in the way of longevity and dropped quite quickly, even when the film itself came out. Perhaps it was Ariana saturation? Nevertheless, I really like the track and it's one of her better 2019 tracks for me, even if the star of the song is probably Miley.

Yeah I feel like Ariana saturation was definitely kicking in around this time - with an underwhelming peak for 'Don't Call Me Angel' in the US and 'boyfriend' dropping like a stone after a little while there too! I'm glad it charted as high as #2 in the U.K., I still think it's fabulous :wub:

It's a good song. But I rarely go back to it.

 

I wish Ariana and Miley's verses were switched officially. I think it flows a lot better that way!

One of my worst Ariana singles

Don't Call Me Angel was a 5 week #1 in my personal chart but I don't think it has (already) held up too well. Lana's part still sounds like it's from a completely different song.

 

Ari's post-Thank-U-Next songs are not doing well and I reckon Boyfriend is going to be out very soon too.

Wait, how did Boyfriend beat DCMA?

 

Ugh.

'Don't Call Me Angel' - very underwhelming & tried too hard to be iconic but comes off as overcooked & by the time the not so great movie came out, this song was almost forgotten.

 

17 7.20 The Way (feat. Mac Miller)

Highest: Josh!, ...ready for it (10) / Lowest: Dan.G, Jupiter (4)

 

The track that Ari wishes was her true debut single... :kink: sit's comfortably into the top 20, with the highest low score so far, a not tremendously harsh 4 from Dan.G and Jupiter. The majority of us gave mid/high marks, giving it a nice average!

 

Penned by none other than Jordin Sparks, the track certainly snatched the attention of many of us on it's release. It marked the first collab between Ari and ex Mac Miller. This 7 year old track still bops hard to this very day. It served as the lead track of her debut album 'Yours Truly', becoming the only major commercially successful release of the era. It peaked at #1 on iTunes in the USA, going on to achieve the rare and almost unexpected feat of debuting top 10 on it's release week. It went on to peak at #9, eventually achieving 3x Platinum in the United States. It didn't experience any major success elsewhere, but due to drip downloads/streams as she got more successful, managed to achieve certifications around the world, including Silver in the UK.

 

It certainly is a classic.

‘The Way’ was my first impression of Ariana as I never watched Victorious and ‘Put Your Hearts Up’ passed me by at the time! It was a great first impression as I instantly downloaded it. She’d better it many times over, but this felt right at the time and was a much better way to launch her than the originally planned bubblegum pop route. I had no idea that Jordin Sparks wrote it :o

I had no idea that Jordin Sparks wrote it :o

 

Love putting those little bits of trivia in there! I think Jordin wanted it released for herself but I'm not 100% on that.

 

The Way was my first introduction to Ariana's music and I fell in love straight away.

 

It's nowhere near my favourite track of hers but I have a special place in my heart for it.

 

16 7.25 Dance to This (Troye Sivan feat. Ariana Grande)

Highest: George.keh, HausofKubruck, Jade, Jay (10) / Lowest: LMLou (1), Cameron (4)

 

A few people have been gunning for this one and here it is, out at #16. It served as the third single from Troye's glorious sophomore album 'Bloom'.

 

The song includes two people who's vocals I adore in one song. Personally I was hoping for more of a 'My My My!' type track, but what we got is pretty lush anyway. The breakdown is probably my favourite part.

 

It's been given the most 10s thus far from four of you, with only LMLou giving the track a 1 with quite a jump to a 4 from Cameron.

 

The track was moderately successful going on to be certified Gold in the US despite failing to crack the Hot 100. It did however chart at #64 in the UK and top 40 in Australia and Belgium.

 

 

 

I'm so impressed that 'Dance To This' has finished as high as #16 here :wub: a lush collaboration indeed that grew on me more and more over time.

Dance To This is such a nothingy song to me.

 

I mean I really like the vocals and I by no means hate the song but it just doesn't do anything to try and make me want to listen to it again.

I LOVE how subtle 'Dance To This' is! It's endearingly addicting. Troye and Ari bounce off of each other so well and I'm really annoyed 'boyfriend' seems to have beaten it :\

Dance To This will forever remain one of the most underrated songs in her discography. Those that don't get it yet, once you do, you'll never look back. A beauty!

I have a habit of listening to a song on loop whilst I'm making the post in these rates and I now I feel like my 7 was harsh.

 

OOH EDIT: Also very surprised Boyfriend is still in.

Edited March 3, 20205 yr by Juliano

'Dance To This' is indeed lush!

 

I quite liked DCMA, but I've only ever listened to it about twice. :lol:

 

15 7.34 boyfriend (feat. Social House)

Highest: George.keh, Josh! + cqmerqn (10), coi (9.5) / Lowest: Cameron, dan.G + SevenSeize (5), ...ready for it, blacksquare, HausofKubrick + Jay (6)

 

Just about scraping a place in the top 15 is 'boyfriend'! I'm sure some of you will breathe a sigh of relief, as comments questioning how high it was were beginning to show up. It's not exactly disliked though, as it did not a receive single score below 5. Some of you really love this - as multiple 10s were awarded and a 9.5 too, amongst other respective numbers that resulted in a 7.34 average. Last year was a crazily busy year for Ariana. She dropped an entire album for us in February, but no, that was not enough. She'd soon be teasing a summer single as well! Fans were disappointed that the 'thank u, next' campaign was cut short, but at least there was new Ariana material to look forward to nevertheless. Ari eventually teased this on social media in the form of 'u ain't my boyfriend' but we'd soon find out that the true title was 'boyfriend'. She could save the slightly whacky title for 'k bye for now' instead! She enlisted her good friends Social House as a feature on the song. The relatively unknown duo would raise their profile immediately thanks to Ari, as 'boyfriend' would become their first ever top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100! It was Ariana's 14th. A #8 peak was seen as a bit of a disappointment by Ari's standards though after how huge the 'thank u, next' era had been - resulting in talk of Ariana saturation. It performed better in the U.K. though, with a #4 peak and respectable longevity. 'boyfriend' is a throwback to 90s R&B music sonically - not a million miles away from some of the material on 'Yours Truly'. Its smooth and breezy sound made it a good fit for a summer single. On the song's relatable meaning, Ariana said: "We wanted to make something uplifting that captures that feeling of being afraid to take the leap [and] trust, being afraid of being hurt or feeling like you won’t be enough for that person, but also how it feels to have a crippling crush on someone." The video, directed by Hannah Lux Davis, conveys these emotions but it does get a bit extra in places! Ari firing an arrow or Mikey from Social House ripping out a guy's heart come to mind. Ariana and Mikey's kissing scenes in the video of course fuelled dating rumours from the press. Ariana initially performed 'boyfriend' on her Sweetener World Tour (where Social House were a support act) - but she soon dropped it. It was already gone by the time I saw her last October! 'boyfriend' was the final 2019 release left in this rate to not come from the 'thank, u next' album - it's just '7 rings' and 'break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored' left now from last year, plus of course the title track.

 

~~~

 

I was slightly disappointed by 'boyfriend' in full after how much I was enjoying the teaser of the bridge - that easily remains my favourite part! It's good but not an Ariana classic. I'm glad that I felt more satisfied by 'Don't Call Me Angel' and 'How I Look On You' so her year could go out on more of a high for me.

Happy to see 'Dance To This' as the highest ranked feature.

 

'boyfriend' is decent enough but I am surprised to see it this high!