My Everything by Ariana Grande // 10 Year Anniversary Album Review

"I'll give you all I have and nothing less, I promise," are the first lines of Ariana Grande's sophomore album My Everything, a sentiment that she has been delivering on for over a decade now. My Everything was the moment she was able to fully break out of her shell and garner massive worldwide acclaim for her incredible talents. As time went on, she was able to experiment with her sound and develop more as an artist, but at that point My Everything seems to have been more of a transitional period for her into becoming the superstar she is today. While it doesn't really have a focus on breaking any new ground with this music, it is full of so many timeless hits that are still among her most recognizable to this day.

"Problem", which served as the album's lead single featuring Iggy Azalea, was Ariana's biggest hit at the time, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the decade to follow, this also became one of the highest selling singles of all time too. Funny enough, the song was actually blocked from going No. 1 on the charts by Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" - those two songs are basically the epitome of 2014 pop culture! It is such a fun mix of jazz, hip-hop, and funk, with the most infectious hook. Initially "One Last Time" was heavily considered to be chosen as the album's lead single, but it eventually served as My Everything's fifth and final single instead. It is such a classic in Ariana's discography, a truly beautiful song with absolutely amazing vocals. It has come to hold a whole new meaning in the wake of the tragic 2017 attack at her show in Manchester too, now it is a beautiful symbol of music being able to bring people together even in the worst of times.

My Everything also includes so many great hidden gems throughout the track list that I feel often get overlooked in the midst of the big singles throughout. "Be My Baby" is among my top favorites from the album. Cashmere Cat's production is just incredible, and I have been so obsessed with that song since I first heard it all those years ago. "Why Try" is another underrated track that features some of the most stunning vocals and production of the entire album. In the context of all the music she went on to release in her career, those two songs especially feel like important precursors for some of the work she would release later. I could absolutely see them being on an album like Positions or something, they still sound so fresh!

On this album, she pretty much tried a little bit of everything musically to try to nail down what her sound was going to be. Listening to it now, it perhaps isn't as cohesive in the same way her debut album Yours Truly was in comparison at the time. My Everything is definitely more focused around the singles, instead of the overall storytelling within the full body of work. That is an approach I feel that she took with her third album, Dangerous Woman, too. That obviously worked really well for that album as well, as it ended up including several of the greatest songs of her career, but again is something she shifted away from in the years that followed. Now I would definitely consider her to be more of an album artist than solely a single artist, which I have always preferred anyway as a listener.

While My Everything expanded upon much of the sounds and themes of her debut album the year prior, it overall took a much more traditionally pop route to give Ariana wider mainstream appeal. Songs like "Love Me Harder" and "Hands On Me" definitely present her in a more mature light too, at least for that time compared to what she has been known for prior. I love how her music has always exuded so much confidence, while also being such a beacon for female empowerment too.

This record doesn't necessarily provide a lot of depth or insight into who Ariana is personally, unlike everything she released from 2018 onward. It definitely took time for her to be fully open in her music and share more than just surface level. She is only credited as a songwriter on a couple of these songs, which definitely has something to do with that divide. I love how much more experimental she has gotten in the years that followed this album, especially with albums like Sweetener and every album she has made after. Ariana has become more involved in every aspect of her music's creation ever since Sweetener, there was definitely something that shifted with her artistry by that point and it has been beautiful to see that growth for her over the years.

For the first time, Ariana was fully being seen as more than just another child star turned musician. Although she still was on Nickelodeon up until a few months before My Everything's release, it became evident that by this point her star power far outshined everything she has ever made for the network. Actually, that became clear right when she first released "The Way" in 2013 that her talent was something really special. Ariana's pop-star persona started to fully take shape in the early days of the My Everything era though, her signature thigh-high boots and high ponytail (often topped with a cat ear headband back then) quickly became her signature look around this time. That was a style transformation that helped fully usher her away from the child star image into a full-on pop star. This was the uniform that she wore for many years and to this day is still definitely still so iconic and synonymous with Ariana.

Ariana collaborated with several incredible artists, some of which were established themselves at that point or newer artists at the time who would go on to have very successful careers of their own too. Looking back, it is so cool that she was able to make music with The Weekend ("Love Me Harder") and Childish Gambino ("Break Your Heart Right Back"), right as they were on the cusp of having their own massive breakout moments very soon after too. It was definitely an exciting time in pop music with a lot of great new artists just starting out that would go on to have incredibly impactful careers in the decade to follow. Both of those songs are absolutely still among my personal favorites from this album! Her ongoing collaborations with The Weekend continue to be all-time career highlights for both of them and I am always anticipating what they will work on together next! Other featuring artists include; Iggy Azalea, Big Sean, A$AP Ferg, Cashmere Cat, and Zedd. The deluxe edition of the album also later featured the hit "Bang Bang" featuring Jessie J and Nicki Minaj, which was another one of Ariana's first massive hits too. This was also the first collaboration between Ariana and Nicki, who have gone on to make several great songs together too.

She also worked for the first time on this album with many new producers and songwriters that brought her vision of her sophomore album to life. Legendary pop producers like Max Martin, Ilya, Shellback, Ryan Tedder, and Benny Blanco, among many others, worked on various tracks throughout the album - the perfect ingredients for creating a future classic pop album! There are also appearances by Zedd, David Guetta, and Cashmere Cat, who bring much of the EDM influences through in the music - a mainstay in mid 2010's pop music that although is done well on this album, is otherwise a trend that I am glad to see isn't as prominent anymore. "Break Free" featuring Zedd is quite different than the majority of the album for that reason but is among the best examples of the EDM and pop crossovers from that time. Ariana worked with several of the same collaborators from her debut album too, such as Tommy Brown, Victoria Monét and Tyla Parx. All three went on to play a major role in Ariana's music from that point forward on nearly every single album she has ever made.

While I still do love all of the upbeat and fun tracks on this album, many of which hold a lot of nostalgia for me, at this point in her career I think her talents truly shined the brightest on the ballads. The same goes for Yours Truly too, she has been a powerhouse vocalist from the start and somehow has only been able to further improve and perfect her craft with every album that followed.

"Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart" is especially an all-time career highlight in regard to her vocal performance. A little-known fun fact is that this song was actually written by Harry Styles, which was the first song he ever released outside of One Direction at the time. I do wonder now if that song was possibly meant to have been an early indicator of his solo career two years before the band ended, or maybe even was supposed to be a duet between him and Ariana. Either way, it is such a beautiful song and such a special piece of this album. "I know I'm not your only, but at least I'm one, I heard a little love is better than none," she sings in the bridge right before performing the most stunning high note. I have been lucky enough to hear them both perform the song live separately, fingers crossed one day they collaborate again and sing the song together!

"Best Mistake" is similarly another stunning piano ballad, which also incorporates hip-hop elements in the production. Lyrically it is among the strongest of the album, "there's no pot of gold at the rainbows we chase, but we hold on," she sings in the chorus. It also features her previous collaborator, Big Sean, who also is featured uncredited in the iconic chorus of "Problem" too. Their collaborations are always great - they were also dating at the time and the chemistry between them in "Best Mistake" is so strong when listening to it.

The standard version of the album ends with yet another gorgeous ballad, the title track "My Everything". She named the album after this song because of how honest it is and the emotional impact it had on her. Melodically it is just so gorgeous and serves as a such a poignant and beautiful end to this album, after so much vulnerability and longing is explored. It truly encapsulates all of the emotions from the album into one song.

I was (and still am) so obsessed with Ariana's music and have so many great memories from this era of her career. I also got to see her for the first time on her Honeymoon Tour in March of 2015 in promotion of this album, which was such an amazing night that I will always cherish. This music was the soundtrack of my early high school years and I will always hold these songs with a special place in my heart. There is simply no one else like her and revisiting this album in such a deep way has been so special. I have loved seeing her continued evolution as an artist throughout the past decade and can only imagine what the next decade will bring!

If you are interested in reading more about Ariana Grande's music, I would love for you to check out my many other recent anniversary reviews; Yours Truly 10th anniversary, Sweetener 5th anniversary, thank u, next 5th anniversary ♡ Earlier this year I also wrote all about Ariana's latest album Eternal Sunshine - which I would also love for you to check out. Many more are linked here and below - with more coming soon!