Ariana Grande really did that.
When Ariana Grande released Thank U, Next as a surprise back in October after her highly publicized breakup with Pete Davidson, it broke records. Now, she’s doing it again with the release of the music video for the single. The video pays tribute to four great romantic comedies of the early 2000’s; Mean Girls, Bring It On, 13 Going On 30 and Legally Blonde. The video premiered last week and broke instant online records for a music video. Thank U, Next premiered on Youtube, where it broke a record for the biggest premiere the video streaming website has ever had on its platform.
Ariana In 2018
It’s been a busy year for Ariana Grande, who began making headlines back in April when it was reported that she and her longtime boyfriend, Mac Miller, broke things off for good. Shortly after that, she began dating SNL star Pete Davidson. The two got engaged after just weeks of dating. Just a few months later Mac Miller passed away in his Los Angeles home of a drug overdose. Weeks after that, Davidson and Grande broke off their engagement, and it was highly publicized. In between all of that, Grande released Sweetener, her fourth studio album for which she’s received international recognition and broke countless records.
The video is full of celebrity cameo appearances, easter eggs about Grande’s upcoming album and references to each of her ex’s that are mentioned in the song. The iconic Burn Book from Mean Girls is even recreated to include three of her four ex’s—Ricky, Sean and Pete. Mac Miller is, on purpose, left out of the Burn Book but is mentioned in the video. There’s even an appearance from Her Majesty the Kween, Kris Jenner, who portrays the cool mom from Mean Girls as she films Grande performing in the iconic Christmas pageant from the movie. The video ends with Jenner saying “Thank U, Next, bitch!” while holding up a camcorder. It’s pretty much the greatest thing to happen in 2018.
Hidden Gems
You’ll have to watch the video a couple of times to catch all of the celebrity appearances, easter eggs and details that Grande put into this music video. She even brings back iconic characters from the original movie—including the army pants and flip flops girl, Aaron Samuels and Paulette Bonafonte with her knight in shining armor, the UPS guy (who is now wearing a shirt that says “BDE,” because he’s got a package).
The video also references upcoming titles for some of the tracks on her new album, which is rumored to be released later this year. Thank U, Next, is listed as the title of the new album, which has no official release date according to its Wikipedia page. Grande has said, though, that the Sweetener tour would be supporting both Sweetener and Thank U, Next. She’s only got one month left in 2018 and the Sweetener tour is going to be kicking off shortly after the new year, so the album should be coming out anytime now (we hope).
The only question I have after seeing the video; does it qualify for a VMA award?
