Editor’s Note: The Albumism staff has selected what we believe to be the 110 Best Albums of the 2010s, representing a varied cross-section of artists, genres, and styles. Click “Next Album” below to explore each album in the list or for easier navigation, view the full introduction & album index here.
ARIANA GRANDE | thank u, next
Republic (2019)
Selected by Mark J. Marraccini
Everything about this album was a surprise, especially its release only six months after 2018’s Sweetener. But, it was the album Grande’s close friends felt she had to make after all the personal turmoil she’d been through. Earlier this year, she told Vogue she was drunk during most of its recording sessions, which resulted in a sublime collection that’s at times bratty (“break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored”), braggadocious (“7 rings”) and blunt (“bloodline”), yet revealed a much more personal side of Grande than she allowed in her previous releases. By far, it’s her most authentic, original, and free-sounding album that will be looked upon years from now as a corner Grande turned, artistically, into a more self-actualized writer, performer, and woman.
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