"Monopoly" is a song by American singers Ariana Grande and

Victoria Monét Victoria Monét McCants (born May 1, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She became involved in performing arts at a young age, singing in the youth choir at her church, and performing in a city dance team. She soon took ...

, released on April 1, 2019 through Republic Records. The song was written by Grande, Monét, Charles Anderson, Michael Foster, and producer Tim Suby. The music video, which was shot on March 30, 2019 at Mohegan Sun in the hours leading up to a concert scheduled that night, was released alongside the single, and was directed by Alfredo Flores and Ricky Alvarez. "Monopoly" was included on the Japanese

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of Grande's fifth studio album ''

Thank U, Next ''Thank U, Next'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Ariana Grande, released on February 8, 2019, by Republic Records. It was released six months after her fourth studio album '' Sweetener'' (2018), conceived in the midst of Grande ...

'' (2019) as a bonus track, along with the official remix of "

7 Rings "7 Rings" (stylised in all lowercase) is a song by American singer Ariana Grande, from her fifth studio album ''Thank U, Next''. It was released as the album's second single on January 18, 2019, through Republic Records. The song was written by ...

" featuring

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. It reached the top five in Greece and Israel and the top 20 in Ireland, Japan and New Zealand. Grande and Monét performed the song on some of the shows of the

Sweetener World Tour The Sweetener World Tour was the fourth concert tour and third arena tour by American singer, songwriter and actress Ariana Grande in support of her fourth and fifth studio albums, ''Sweetener'' (2018) and '' Thank U, Next'' (2019). Led by Live N ...

Background

Monét and Grande decided to make a song titled "Monopoly", finding it funny since Monét dislikes the

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

and declines to play whenever Grande asks. The song was recorded on February 1, 2019. "Monopoly" was originally slated for a March 28, 2019 release but was pushed back to April 1, 2019 to celebrate "

" 8th week at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Grande said on Twitter that "Monopoly" is about "friendship, freedom, protecting your energy and staying right in your bag." Monét made a similar tweet stating that the track was about "good vibes and celebrations of life and friendship."

Lyrics and composition

"Monopoly" is a

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- pop song, leading ''

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'' writer Chloe Gilke to call it the "spiritual successor" to Grande's single "

" which Monét also co-wrote. The song is a celebration of Grande's success, much like "7 Rings", which charted at number one on the Hot 100 for eight weeks. Monét personally believed it was important to include the line "I like women and men", along with the lyrics "Swerve both ways, Dichotomy" (a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

invoking the word dyke), to highlight her sexuality because of the lack of representation for bisexual black women in her industry. In response to the attention garnered by Grande for also singing the "I like women and men" line, Grande opened up about her sexuality and revealed she doesn't label herself, tweeting that " he hasn't labelled herselfbefore and still oesn'tfeel the need to now". Grande also sings "Even though we gave up that 90%", referencing the fact that she had to give up 90% of the royalties for "7 Rings" to

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...

due to interpolating the melody of ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...

''s " My Favorite Things".

Reception

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praised the song and music video for being a "meme-heavy bisexual bop". ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote that following the release of ''

'' (2019), "Monopoly" was refreshing to hear, describing the song as "flippant and fun". ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

Broadly Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); ...

'', and ''

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'' reported that certain fans responded negatively to the song, accusing Grande of

queerbaiting Queerbaiting is a marketing technique for fiction and entertainment in which creators hint at, but then do not depict, same-sex romance or other LGBTQ+ representation. The purpose is to attract ("bait") an LGBTQ+ or straight ally audience with th ...

. ''Broadly'' writer Gabrielle Alexa criticized the accusations, stating "the act of speculating only perpetuates attitudes that contribute to the erasure of bisexual women. Grande doesn't have to date a girl in order to count as bisexual. And we shouldn't try to make her prove her sexuality anyways."

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

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. * Ariana Grande – vocals, songwriting, vocal production *

– vocals, songwriting * Tim Suby – production, songwriting, programming * Social House – co-production, songwriting, programming * Kyle Mann – engineering, mixing, studio personnel * Brendan Morawski – engineering, studio personnel

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Victoria Monét's "Monopoly" Official Lyrics & Meaning
from

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...

{{Authority control 2019 songs 2019 singles Ariana Grande songs Victoria Monét songs Music videos shot in the United States Republic Records singles Songs written by Ariana Grande Songs written by Victoria Monét Songs written by Charles Anderson Song recordings produced by Charles Anderson Bisexuality-related songs Monopoly (game) Trap music songs