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Every Ariana Grande Song, Ranked: Critic’s Picks

With Ariana Grande's catalog now at 171 total songs post-'Eternal Sunshine,' Billboard ranks every one of her tracks from worst to first.

With its jazzy, airy synth chords and West Coast hip-hop drums, “Borderline” feels like a throwback to the My Everything bonus tracks “Only 1” and “You Don’t Know Me.” “You know I’m the wifey type, babe…/ Once you tastin’ my ice cream, I bet you won’t ever leave,” sings Ariana, playfully insistent on settling down with her lover. With its acoustic guitar and finger clicks, this Christmas Kisses track sounds more than a little like Céline Dion’s “Because You Loved Me.” It’s a silly premise: Ariana prays to Santa for snow, to delay her lover’s departure flight after the holidays — but she’s so committed that it’s genuinely moving. As she sings about settling into a new love, she shows us how far she’s coming since the heady days of Thank U, Next: “The way you feel, somethin’ ’bout it’s healing/ I’m praying we don’t fuck this up.” Short but sweet — and the classic R&B-style melodic jumps in the chorus are worth the price of admission alone.

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