I'm back to being ambivalent about young vocalist Ariana Grande after hearing new track, Right There. Whereas there had been development from the Diva on second single, Baby, I, this new track, which admittedly is an album track so I shouldn't have expected anything spectacular, sounds pretty much like a clone of her debut single The Way.
With Mariah-esque vocals (with a splash of Aguilera), a sample (courtesy of Rain Dance) and a guest rapper ( Big Sean); it's no wonder even Ariana herself called this The Way Pt II (Source: someone's comment on YouTube(!)). But just because the artist has been self-aware enough to (supposedly) note the similarities, it doesn't excuse this sloppy effort for me.
Right Here isn't offensive, though. I'm sure I'll even enjoy it on rotation for a few days. But it's disappointingly more of the same from Ariana. Something perhaps concerning just three releases into her young career.
Thoughts?
We shall have to see what the album will give... I just hope it isn't the same again and again... oh dear lawd.
ReplyDeleteI am DONE with this girl. Other great singers with similar ranges manage to not try and clone Mariah Carey with every song. She can chose to sound different. It really does sound like the Way PT 2 and the number of collaborations on her upcoming album is really questionable. Still, I'm just totally bothered by her incessant need to pull every Mariah trick in the book, and I count the days till she fades into obscurity for lack of originality.
ReplyDeleteLet me not start with the diction/nasality that makes her sound foggy or something. IDK. Done.
ReplyDeleteThis really is exactly like The Way. I'm flabbergasted. This is just pathetic. I just lost a lot of hope for her album.
ReplyDelete1:40
ReplyDeleteYou got, you got it babe...
I love the, I love the way..
Come on Ariana! I'm really trying to root for here, no doubt the song is catchy but where is the originality!?
Realized that this is The Way Part 2.
ReplyDeleteShe has said the first half of the album is entirely throwback in dedication to her idols. The second half will be the material she has cowrote and worked on more extensively in attention to herself. So Im hoping to hear more Ariana and less R&B in the second half of the album.
ReplyDeletei dont think its entirely her fault - yes its very similar to the way which is disappointing
ReplyDeletebut she needs to get a different producer or something because its not working
the way was a good debut - but it brought on the mariah comparisons and baby i - i will admit is catchy as hell but doesnt really feel like a strong single
i wont judge until i hear the whole album - i read on atrl that she said she would have more experimental material on the rest of the album
so i wish her the best but i understand the mariah comparisons and ill admit this is too similar to the way
i dont here any aguilera here though, just mariah
To be honest I still really liked The Way, and Baby I. Maybe I've lowered my standards for music too. But to be honest this song is The Way Part II, down to the "ey!"s in the background. It's not really clicking like her past singles have done, I really really want to like Ariana because no doubt she's talented to an extent, and she seems like a great person, but... I don't know. I have such mixed feelings.
ReplyDeletePoor Kelly... I want to like her though.
ReplyDeletehear
ReplyDeleteHow can someone run out of ideas just by using the same idea all the time ? o_O Definetly I'm disappointed with Ariana, I had hope on her...
ReplyDeleteAriana legit is amazing. No mattter what she sings it is perfect and personally i think she is doing a great job. No one is perfect but she is pretty close to it!! She is an inspiration <3
ReplyDeleteShe has an amazing range and capability but the songs she sings are pretty...Normal? I wish she's use her talent to sing something more meaningful than stuff like "I love you" and "I'm never going to change". :X
ReplyDeleteMariah,
ReplyDeleteOften imitated, never duplicated
"right there" is (and is meant to be) the way pt.II
ReplyDeleteShe even mentionned it, and it's more like a "bonus track" on her album. A lot of artists and great musicians use this system (e.g: Mike oldfield, Muse...etc)
I don't think it would be fair for this really really talented young artist who is an amazing vocalist (it has to be said), and who has (even if it still has to be fully shown) a real musical soul and identity.
i also actually love "Baby I" (though i find it repetitive, but i love the rythm and i am amazed by the vocals.)
Also, please stop saying she tries to imitate mariah carey. I mean, yes, she's her idol, and she clearly inspires her, but you cannot tell that their voices are alike at all. Except for the whistle notes and the airy tones they both like to use, mariah and ariana have very different voices. Mariah's raspier, heavier, and mostly lower, while Ariana's very agile, light, and shiny.
Both are extraordinary.
And Ariana, as a young artist, relatively new in this industru, has of course to improve herself.
Sorry for the bad english, it's not my native language
But imitation is more about style than voice. Just saying, nothing you've said refutes the accusation.
ReplyDeleteGod, she's so boring. Might give her second chance once she's grown up and found her own voice and style and has better material. Oh well, she seems to go down well with legions of pre-teen and teenage girls who like to shade Mariah because they didn't "grow up listening to her" like Ariana did. The "fan war" thing just reminds me of Charice imitating Whitney and Gaga supposedly imitating Madonna and fans of both claiming Madge and Whit are past it so they never listen to their music.
ReplyDeleteyes, I have to agree with you on that point, but what I'm trying to express probably badly, i can admit it), is that the girl has, in my opinion, still many things to offer. I mean, this is her début album, she probably wants to do what she can do and what she likes to do, and maybe not taking too many risks for the moment.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the rest of her music might be more "her", and producters and stuff like that probably want to release first as singles what's commercially the less risky.
But yes, you are right on that point, her technique is very comparable to Mariah's, and we cannot deny a large inspiratioon. he clearly is her role model.
But I'd rather hear an imitation of Mariah's technique than an imitation of Christina Aguilera (who i like by the way, her techique is just... questionnable) or rihanna's technique.
Anyways, i really love watching and hearing her live performances who are great, and I'm waiting her album with excitement!
And by technique I also imply musical and vocal style (sorry for the confusion)
ReplyDeleteIs an album not supposed to be a cohesive body of work? Surely that is reflected in the similarities in the three songs released so far, and rightly so! It's a representation of where she is at this point in her life so of course the songs will contain similar samples, ideas and progressions, it's a themed package!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lFYP_hn8OU you should check that out, I like it and it's not as "the way"-like as all her other material, while it's still got an 80's vibe to it.
ReplyDeleteIt's really sad how people complain about how the songs being released by one artist for the same album sound too similar. Those same people would be the ones complaining about the album being disjointed if the artist releases songs that differ too much. I like what i've heard so far. They're cute little songs that you can listen to, groove and have fun. However, i'm gonna wait until her album comes out so I can see how the album as a whole sounds. I actually like cohesiveness in an album instead of 10-13 singles on one disc.
ReplyDelete• Artist tries to be different:
ReplyDelete"Ew, she needs to respect and learn from the classics, these young folks these days!"
• Artist pays tribute to a classic diva:
"She's not original at all, sounds JUST like Mariah Carey, gtfo"
^ 90% of the Diva Devotee community.
Ariana is faux-Mariah, eau de Mariah, a diluted version of Mariah circa 2005
ReplyDeleteThat was a clever and a good one "eau de Mariah" LOL
ReplyDelete