Dangerous Woman (song)

Background and release

In October 2015, Grande released "Focus" as the intended lead single of her third studio album, called Moonlight at the time. The song was an immediate success, reaching the top ten on various charts worldwide. Although stating that the song was the perfect transition from her previous record to the new one, Grande ended up changing the album's title to Dangerous Woman, following which the title track was made available for digital consumption.

On February 25, 2016, Grande launched a website titled dangerouswoman.com in order to promote the album and its lead single. Later, on March 1, 2016, she released the song's first preview, containing few of the recording's lyrics and some "studio chatter". On March 10, 2016, Grande premiered a one-minute preview during CBS' Victoria's Secret Swim Special, before finally releasing "Dangerous Woman" for digital download the next day. Four days later, the track was sent to United States contemporary hit radio.

Composition and lyrics

"Dangerous Woman" was written and produced by Johan Carlsson and Max Martin, with additional writing from Ross Golan. A mid-tempo slow-jam pop and R&B song, the recording has a 6
8 time signature that "falls neatly at the intersection of bubblegum and rock and roll", while having an arena rock chorus and a guitar solo in its bridge. Various publications compared the track's vibe to The Weeknd's "Earned It". "Dangerous Woman" is performed in the key of E minor, while its tempo swings at a rate of 45 beats per minute. Grande's vocal range spans from D₃ to B₅.

Critical reception

Carolyn Menyes of Music Times complimented the song's time signature for adding "a bit of a waltz flavor, channeling the old school Ariana that fans first fell in love with", adding that "a sultry, distorted guitar line and Grande's passionate, soaring vocals add a sense of texture and modernity that makes 'Dangerous Woman' feel as powerful as the title." A writer of NME felt that Grande "shows herself as someone who continues to be determined to challenge the norm." The publication as well pointed out that "[the song] does sound empowered, even if it doesn't sound especially dangerous for her in the wake of her 2014 collaboration 'Love Me Harder' with The Weeknd." Writing for Idolator, Robbie Daw, Carl Williot and Mike Wass reviewed "Dangerous Woman" during their "Pop Perspective" article, with Daw calling it "one walk of danger worth taking", Williot praising her vocal performance and highlighting the "clever little flip of '(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman'", and Wass naming it a "decent song" but noting that "[she] still hasn't found her own lane."

Brennan Carley of Spin opined that "without a doubt, the most mature piece of music she's released to date. [...] The song's smart, sexy, captivating, and sung to total perfection." Tufayel Ahmed from Newsweek as well praised the song's maturity. Vulture.com's Sean Fitz-Gerald expressed that "Dangerous Woman" "flaunts the pop star's vocal control, starting out as a seductive whisper and slowly swelling into a heavy, swaying ear worm". Writing for AXS, Lucas Villa compared the song to The Weeknd's 2014 single "Earned It", saying that Grande "embrace[s] her grown woman side." He also added that "Ariana's powerful pipes take femme fatale to a whole new level." Maeve McDermott of USA Today considered it "her own version of a slinky Bond theme", while Jessie Morris of Complex called it "enchanting". Ailbhe Malone from Irish Times described the recording as "slinky and sexy, but tongue-in-cheek too. Imagine it as part of a Spotify playlist with Selena Gomez's 'Hands to Myself' and you're on the right track." Rolling Stone wrote that "the thrush-size diva with the five-alarm vocal power knocks out a sumptuously bluesy ode to her own awesomely lethal ladyhood." The magazine also named "Dangerous Woman" one of the thirty best songs of the first half of 2016: "This sultry, clever, bluesy stalk is full of unlikely patterns and pitch jumps, not to mention a guitar solo that explodes into Nintendo pixels and a vocodered outro. But for all its unique filigrees, there's an unstoppable chorus for one of pop's most pyrotechnic voices."

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Dangerous Woman" debuted at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 issue dated April 2, 2016, selling 118,000 digital downloads. It also reached the Digital Songs chart at number two. The recording became Grande's seventh top ten on the chart, and her second song after "Focus" to enter the top ten unaccompanied by another artist. She also set a record for debuting within the opening ten positions of the chart with every lead single—"The Way" and "Problem"—of her three studio albums. The single fell to number 13 in its second week, but gradually rebounded, reaching its peak position at number 8 in its eleventh week. "Dangerous Woman" spent twenty weeks in the Hot 100's top forty, dropping to the closing positions starting with August 8, 2016..

"Dangerous Woman" debuted at number 24 on Australia's ARIA Charts on the week ending March 27, 2016; it went on to reach number 18 on April 10, 2016, becoming her seventh top twenty single there. The song spent 13 weeks on the chart, with it being certified Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for exceeding the 70,000 sales limit. In New Zealand, the song peaked at number 16 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, being as well certified Platinum. In the United Kingdom, "Dangerous Woman" debuted and peaked at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart, marking Grande's fifth top twenty single in that territory after "Focus". Additionally, the recording gained a Gold certification offered by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling 400,000 units.

Live performances

Grande provided her first televised performance of "Dangerous Woman" on the March 12, 2016 episode of Saturday Night Live along with "Be Alright". She additionally sang the track as a special guest for Nicki Minaj's concert at the T-Mobile Arena on April 8, 2016, while as well performing the single at the 2016 MTV Movie Awards with Jason Robert Brown, the Tony-winning composer behind Grande's Broadway debut in musical 13 (2008).

Music video

Grande previewed the accompanying music video for the single through social media on March 26, 2016 and March 29, 2016. The clip was officially premiered on Vevo in the night of March 31, 2016. Directed by production company The Young Astronauts, the video opens with Grande seen lying on a couch looking into the camera. Over the rest of the visual, the singer is portrayed posing for the camera, being surrounded by various kinds of lightening. The video surpassed 100 million views on May 18, 2016, making it Grande's tenth VEVO-certified music video after "Right There" (2013).

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Dangerous Woman.