Whoever called this the Deja Vu to Problem's Crazy In Love is right, but rather than declining in quality, this is far better than Problem. I like how this is sticking to what Problem did well while introducing a newer, more mature sound. The pre-chorus recalls a sound similar to Fifth Harmony's Worth It, but much better and more impactful.
The verses are punchy and Ariana is finally getting straight to the subject rather than doing a lot of beating around the bush which I found irritating on
Yours Truly and
My Everything. The bridge is the horns snippet used in the Ari perfume advert, and it works great at that point in the song.
The Mariah comparisons are going to stop - but they may just find themselves replace by Beyoncé comparisons. It's like B'Day (Deja Vu and Freakum Dress especially) had a baby with Problem and created this awesome pop throwback with a hint of the future. The video - as you can see - is very inspired by Partition, but the bridge also gives me Green Light. Not blatant rip offs at all, but I just thought I'd warn the Ariana stans.
Overall, this is one of my favourite Ariana songs already and it honestly deserves the #1 spot in my opinion; I wish she'd released earlier and avoided Adele. This has immaculate production, gorgeous vocals (as always), it's catchy, it's pre-chorus is one of the best so far this year, and the lyrics are snappy and memorable. If the rest of her output this era is as great as this, I'd be looking into stanning, quite frankly.
