My Everything

My Everything is the second studio album by American singer and actress Ariana Grande, released on August 25, 2014 by Republic Records. Grande wanted My Everything to sound as "an evolution" from her debut album, Yours Truly (2013); it explores more mature themes and genres. In the album's production, Ariana worked with a host of producers – including Max Martin, Shellback, Benny Blanco, Ryan Tedder, Darkchild, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Zedd, and David Guetta. Upon its release, the album debuted atop the Billboard 200, selling 169,000 copies in its first week. It debuted at number one in Australia and Canada as well, and peaked in the top ten of twenty countries worldwide. As of April 2018, the album has sold 735,000 copies in the United States.
My Everything was preceded by the lead single "Problem", which features Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. After its release on April 28, 2014, the single debuted at number three the week of May 17, selling over 400,000 copies in its first week and eventually peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. "Break Free", featuring German-Russian musician and producer Zedd, was released as the second single on July 2, and peaked at the fourth position on the Hot 100. The fourth single, "Love Me Harder", featuring The Weeknd, was released on September 30, 2014 and peaked at number seven. Final single "One Last Time" reached number thirteen. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in 2015, My Everything was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album.
Background and recording
"It's an album that I want to do a little bit different. I don't want it to sound like an extension of Yours Truly. I want it to sound like an evolution. I want to explore more sounds and experiment a little bit. I have a bunch of ideas I'm very excited about and a lot of stuff cooking."
— Grande, on the album.
Grande's debut studio album Yours Truly was released on September 3, 2013, and was met with critical acclaim. Later that month, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Grande stated that she had begun writing and working on her second studio album and had already completed two songs. Recording sessions began in October 2013 with Grande working with previous producers from her debut album Harmony Samuels and Tommy Brown. Grande was initially aiming at releasing the album around February 2014. In January 2014, Grande confirmed she had been working with new producers Ryan Tedder, Savan Kotecha, Benny Blanco, Key Wane and Max Martin. Grande stated in late February that she wanted to name her album after a song she had finished that weekend that is very honest and makes her cry.
It was announced on March 3, 2014 that Grande would be featured on the fifth single from Chris Brown's album X titled "Don't Be Gone Too Long". The single was originally set for release on March 25, 2014. However, it was postponed due to Brown being sent to jail awaiting trial on assault charges. Grande had announced the song's delay on March 17, 2014 via Twitter stating "My loves… so obviously some things have changed recently... So we have to delay the dbgtl countdown, some things are out of our control". That same night she held a live stream to make up for the single's delay, where she previewed four new songs from her second album. Two days following the announcement, Grande revealed that due to the song's delay, she would be releasing the first single from her upcoming sophomore studio album instead. She finished working on the album in late May 2014. On June 28, Grande confirmed the title of the album to be My Everything and the release date to be August 25, 2014. The photos for the packaging in the album were taken on May 27, 2014. Grande stated that she chose the cover artwork because she felt that "each song is so strongly themed that I just wanted to have a very simple overall cover. So that within each song we could create more visual themes."
Music and lyrics
My Everything is a pop-R&B album. It revisits the '90's retro-R&B style present in Grande's debut album Yours Truly: Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club, described the album as a "slick throwback to melodramatic ’80s and ’90s pop." The album's tracks include EDM, hip hop tunes and piano-driven ballads. The album opens with "Intro", in which Grande addresses her fans: "I'll give you all I have and nothing less, I promise". The second track is the lead single "Problem", an uptempo dance-pop song influenced by R&B, jazz, hip hop and funk. Rap-Up described the track as an "infectious horn-heavy jam" that features a "carefree" Grande "declaring her independence". It includes "an empowering verse from Iggy Azalea and a whispering Big Sean on the hook." "One Last Time" is a dance-pop and EDM-light song. The album continues with "Why Try", co-written and co-produced by Ryan Tedder and Benny Blanco and features the lyrics "Now we're screaming just to see who's louder". Some critics expressed an opinion that the song has a similar composition with Beyoncé's "XO" (2013; also produced by Tedder).