POP SONG REVIEW: "7 Rings" by Ariana Grande

Funnily enough, even bluegrass has a bit of an appropriation problem, since a good chunk of their gospel comes straight from black gospel (not to mention the banjo evolved from an African instrument) and that stuff doesn't get acknowledged in the Bluegrass 'scene'. On the other hand, Gangstagrass is a real thing and I kinda dig it. Apologies for writing a novel to your throw away line about Bluegrass but it's stuff I don't see discussed too often.

Deanna Banana

You could always watch it on YouTube...

James Anthony

Todd, I love your stuff but PLEASE stop with Vimeo. Like clockwork it ALWAYS fails about 2/3rd through forcing me to restart. PLEASE FIND A BETTER SERVER!!!

Amy Poli

I can’t believe Ariana turned out to be one of the dwarf lords from lord of the rings

Sam Scott

If there's any pop star who should sample Broadway, it's Ariana. She was on Broadway pre-Nickelodeon.

Decent review. Not a fan of the song myself, but the usage of Nightmare before Christmas to explain cultural appropriation was apt and quite funny. Plus ending with Eat the Rich, good choice. I'm kinda entertained that two youtubers I follow (content creators? not sure what the preferred terminology is here) released videos on the same day touching on cultural appropriation, though the other was blatantly in favor, at least in the context of Vietnam appropriating French food and coffee.

Cristina Youngren

+1 for comparing it to I’m on a Boat

Andrew Lenahan

I think it's at least an interesting song, i'll sure as shit take it over Royals any day of the week.

LifeIsStrange

It's still enjoyable for me, I think sometimes people really overreact over nothing in music and this is one of those times.

LifeIsStrange

Royals is such an overrated pretentious piece of shit song it's not even funny, I look at Royals more as the Funny Games-a piece of part that think's it's SOOOOOO clever and brilliant but is actually artsy nonsense that's stuck up it's own ass.

LifeIsStrange

I think it's good.

LifeIsStrange

Bullshit, she didn't "Steal" anything, sometimes people throw around the CA term way too much to the point that I can't help but roll my eyes every time I see it(like all those people that sent all kinds of nasty threats to that one girl who had the audacity to *gasp* wear an oriental dress to the prom! OMG the horror! Sometimes I really do tire of people getting outraged over trivial shit like this(and no I don't think Miley or Katy ever engaged in CA either).

LifeIsStrange

I don't think she's engaging in "appropriation" at all, I think that is total fucking bullshit.

LifeIsStrange

I thought the hair reference was was basically addressing the gossip rumors that she has to wear wigs/fake hair due to damage from years of too-tight ponytails. Go to any celebrity gossip site, and it'll be in the comment sections as a negative anytime she's brought up. Song is still terrible, just thought I'd throw that extra context out there.

Really good review. It help me think more critically about a song and yeah for some reason I forgot Ariana was white and it make's the whole song lot less enjoyable for me.

Bruno Sauvagnat

Also on the cultural appropriation: there is a reason why it was okay for Eminem to be a white rapper and not okay for Vanilla Ice. Be respectful of the craft and art and it shouldn't be a problem in most cases.

My problem is with the song is mostly that Ariana comes across as a spoiled brat, a female version of Donald Trump. The way she sounds like she is better than you and looking down on you if you don't have the same wealth. The reason so many rap songs gets away with being so materialistic is that firstly they are more fun, and more importantly the wealth is always earned in some way and can be seen as a leason to everyone that we all can make it one day. Ariana doesn't seem happy with all her wealth and seems like an elitist prick that should be eaten.

EAT THE RICH

So I guess it's not worth putting a ring on it? And if Royals was the Infinity War of popular music what's going to be the Endgame?

I've always been annoyed with Ariana but not enough to actually to express how annoyed I am with her. This song however, pissed me off so much. I hate it.

aravioa

Someone else said it but yeah, the nightmare before Christmas is a fantastic analogy for cultural appropriation. I’ve found the concept a bit nebulous and frustrating to get a grasp of.

George Morgan

Weird choice to not mention all the Japanese stuff she steals in a video about cultural appropriation. Especially because that was the big appropriation discussion I kept hearing out of it after the song came out.

Alan Kase

OTP = Todd+Contrapoints

matt

She did have a couple hits this decade, but neither were as memorable as her late '90s/early 2000s hits.

Jacqueline Sailer

I find it ironic that the focus of this video is appropriation of black culture (which is central to why the song feels so wrong coming from Ariana, or certainly how she does it, at least), yet there was no mention of how much she's been appropriating Japanese culture as well, even with the brief clip that made it in the review. Besides the souvenirs here, there are katakana characters all over her stuff such as the streaming backdrop for this song. Even the koto in the production seems like it's obviously milking this gimmick. Of course, she has a huge following in Japan, but besides just fanservice to her popularity over there, all of the Japanese elements she's been integrating into her image feels like a mask to distract from a more explicit attempt to soak up a culturally black rags to riches narrative.

Jacqueline Sailer

Wow this was a harsh song to talk about. Think you tackled it fairly well though. Also, a part of me (the part that can't go past 2009) misses J-Lo as a singer.

Josh Spicer

Zero mention of dwarf lords in their halls of stone. Zero stars.

Patrick Thatcher

Great review! I do like the song but I totally get why lots of people hate it. One thing though - it's AH-riana, not AIR-riana (just a tiny pet peeve of mine lol)

Natalie Koppen

Not going to lie, this song is a bit of a guilty pleasure. It’s basically just Ariana Grande pulling a Marie Antoinette and being like LET THEM EAT CAKE!

Yvette

The use of “Nightmare Before Christmas” to illustrate cultural appropriation was perfect.

Terence

More like 7 Faceplants.

Grace

Kind of a bummer you didn't do this as a duo review with Billie Eilish's Bury a Friend, but I'm okay with the idea of you checking this thing out! Because yea, this thing's been going crazy right now!

Tom Carter

knew this one was coming, expected it sooner tbh

Crow