This Ain’t Usually Me

Ariana Grande “My Hair”

There’s seven credited writers including Ariana Grande on “My Hair,” but the one whose presence feels most obvious to me Grande’s frequent co-writer, the R&B singer-songwriter Victoria Monét. The contours of the melody sound very Monét to me, and the arrangement fits into her general neo-soul wheelhouse. The jazzy chords and the verse melody fits Grande’s voice perfectly – you can tell how much she likes singing around the curves of it, and how that elegant slide into the chorus flatters the most mature and sensual aspects of her technique. Like pretty much everything else on Positions this song is overtly horny, but the lyrics get into a very particular aspect of intimacy for her as she gives detailed instructions to her partner on when and how to touch her hair. The specificity levels up the song a bit, making it feel more like a window into a person’s actual life rather than just some sexy boilerplate.

Buy it from Amazon.