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Ariana Grande’s 8th Album ‘petal’: Where Did the Talk About the Music Go?

Ariana Grande’s 8th Album ‘petal’: Where Did the Talk About the Music Go?
Ariana Grande’s 8th Album ‘petal’: Where Did the Talk About the Music Go?

Ariana Grande’s eighth full-length album was released on July 31.

It is her first full-length album in roughly 2 years.

Yet when you scan through the headlines of articles introduced in Korea, finding discussion of the album is harder than expected.

3-line summary
1. Ariana Grande’s 8th album, ‘petal,’ has been released.
2. It has 12 tracks and runs 36 minutes; she wrote all the lyrics herself.
3. Commentary on someone’s body is not news—it is meddling.

12 tracks, 36 minutes, and she wrote all the lyrics herself

The title is ‘petal’—a flower petal. It is styled entirely in lowercase.

12 tracks, 36 minutes and 8 seconds. It was released through her own label, Babydoll Music, and the executive producers are Grande and Ilya Salmanzadeh. Max Martin worked on three tracks.

The first song released was ‘Hate That I Made You Love Me,’ unveiled on May 29. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.

She wrote the lyrics to every track herself. That is not common for an album of this scale.

A petal caught between paving blocks

This is the most ironic part of this news.

One of the things the album addresses is excessive public attention and the image of herself reflected in the media. The rest concerns ended relationships, self-worth, and the other side of fame.

The title points in that direction as well. Grande described the album by comparing it to “a petal caught between paving blocks.” It is about what remains even after being severely shaken.

Regarding her working process, she said she brought out emotions she would once have been too cautious to touch, and that she did not go back and soften the lyrics.

But what made the headlines was not the music

After the album’s release, a considerable number of articles introduced in Korea put her appearance, rather than the songs, in their headlines. Before talk of which songs were good, online arguments over her body were brought over first.

The album’s credits and discussion of its tracks were pushed behind those headlines.

How the cycle turns

The sequence is almost set.

A stage performance or music video is released → social media reactions about someone’s body appear → the fact that there are many such reactions becomes an article → comments accumulate under the article → those comments become another article.

What is worth noting here is that no one has verified any new facts. From the first step to the last, all that has circulated is the impression of people looking at someone else’s body. But with each step, it is labeled a “○○ controversy,” making it appear to be an incident.

There are reasons on the reporting side, too. An album review requires listening to every track before writing, and it draws fewer readers. By contrast, articles relaying reactions are quick and widely read. If the less labor-intensive option sells better, it is only natural that more of it will be produced.

Who pays the price?

The core of this issue is that the person involved is not the only one who pays the price.

A Korean research team analyzed data from 5만 2,219명 participants in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and found that adolescents who perceive their body shape differently from reality had a 1.24-fold higher rate of suicide attempts than peers who did not.

Body-image perception is not formed alone. It is shaped by seeing every day which bodies become topics of conversation and which are called causes for concern. Scenes in which tens of thousands of people comment on a celebrity’s body teach those who see them the rule that “bodies are meant to be publicly evaluated.”

Whether the judgment of the person involved was right or wrong is not important here. The premise that such a judgment may be publicly made is already the problem.

The people who made the 12 tracks

‘petal’ is a 12-track album running 36 minutes and 8 seconds. Ariana Grande released it through her own label, Babydoll Music, and served as executive producer alongside Ilya Salmanzadeh. Max Martin participated in the production of three tracks.

Ariana Grande wrote the lyrics to every track. The album’s subjects—excessive attention, ended relationships, and self-worth—are also bound together in those lyrics. The title’s metaphor of “a petal caught between paving blocks” refers to what remains after being shaken.

‘Hate That I Made You Love Me,’ released first on May 29, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.

The 12 tracks on ‘petal’ begin with this pre-release song and extend to her image in the media and the other side of fame.

Sources