"Side To Side" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande, featuring

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

, from Grande's third studio album, ''

Dangerous Woman ''Dangerous Woman'' is the third studio album by American singer Ariana Grande. It was released through Republic Records on May 20, 2016. Grande began work on the album shortly after the release of her second studio album '' My Everything'' (2 ...

'' (2016). Grande co-wrote the song with

Savan Kotecha Savan Harish Kotecha is an American songwriter and record producer from Austin, Texas. Kotecha is of Indian (Gujarati) descent. He was also the executive music producer of the 2020 film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga'', for ...

Alexander Kronlund Alexander Erik Kronlund (born 10 December 1971 in Bredäng) is a Swedish producer and songwriter. Kronlund co-wrote Meja's million-selling debut album on Sony and co-wrote two songs for Britney Spears' second album, '' Oops!... I Did It Again ...

, and Minaj along with its producers

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

and

Ilya Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/Jah." ...

. It is a reggae-pop song, featuring guest vocals from Minaj. The song was serviced to

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban conte ...

radio on August 30, 2016, serving as the third single from the album. "Side to Side" peaked at number four on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming her first top-five single from ''Dangerous Woman'' in the former and first top-ten single from the album in the latter. It also reached number four on the Canadian Hot 100, number 3 on the Australian chart and number two in the New Zealand chart. It is her second single to top the US Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart. The single has sold 1.1 million copies as of 2018 in the country, and has been certified sextuple

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for additional equivalent units. Its music video, directed by

Hannah Lux Davis Hannah Lux Davis (born May 17, 1986) is an American music video, commercial and film director. She's known for her work especially with female artists, such as Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Christ ...

, made its premiere on American clothing brand Guess's website on August 28, 2016, and features Grande in a gym and frolicking with shirtless men in a sauna together with Minaj. The music video has since received a nomination at the

2017 MTV Video Music Awards The 2017 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 27, 2017 at The Forum in Inglewood, California, honoring music videos released between June 25, 2016 and June 23, 2017. It was hosted by Katy Perry. The 34th annual award show aired live from ...

for Best Choreography. Grande and Minaj performed "Side to Side" at the

2016 MTV Video Music Awards The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards were held on Sunday night, August 28, 2016 at 9:00–11:54pm EDT at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Adele's " Hello" was the most nominated video with seven categories. This marked the 33rd edition of the live ...

and the

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...

. Grande has also promoted the song with televised performances on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'' and on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

''.

Background and composition

On May 13, 2016, Grande announced on her Instagram account that a new song from her album ''Dangerous Woman'' would be premiered exclusively on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

every day until the release of the album. The following day, Grande posted a short preview of "Side to Side" via Instagram, then premiered the song on Apple Music the same day. On August 30, 2016, the track was sent to US

urban contemporary radio Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...

and became ''Dangerous Womans third single. The song was written by

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

, Ilya Salmanzadeh,

, Grande and Minaj. Martin was also responsible for production, along with Salmanzadeh, as well as programming, drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s, bass and

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

. The background vocal was provided by Kotecha, Chonita Gilbert,

Joi Gilliam Joi Elaine Gilliam (born January 25, 1971), better known mononymously as Joi, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer associated with the Dungeon Family collective based in Atlanta, Georgia, and as such often performs with OutKast ...

and Taura Stinson. It was recorded at

MXM Studios Maratone is a music production company, and started by two music producers and songwriters, Max Martin and Tom Talomaa. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, it was started in January 2001 after the closing of Cheiron Studios. Maratone moved in at Cosmos S ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California and Wolf Cousins Studios in Stockholm, Sweden while Minaj's verses were recorded at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California and MilkBoy the Studio in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. "Side to Side" is written in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

with a

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

tempo of 159 (or 79.5)

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

. Grande's vocals span two octaves, from the low note of F₃ to the mixed note of F₅. The song is a reggae-pop and dancehall song complemented with R&B influences with a duration of three minutes and forty-six seconds (3:46). Lyrically, "Side to Side" describes a feeling of soreness after sex. In an interview to MTV News reporter Gaby Wilson, Grande explained "that whole song is about riding leading to soreness". Deepa Lakshmin from ''MTV'' noted that when Minaj says the words " bicycle" and "

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes ...

", "she's rapping about something a bit more risqué than your standard gym workout."

Critical reception

Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj concert 2016

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

noted that the song's sound is comparable to works from Barbadian singer Rihanna. Maeve McDermott from ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' also noted the similarities and wrote, "Grande borrows the tropical flavors and ska upstrumming that Rihanna ushered into pop music’s consciousness." She went on to praise Minaj's participation, writing, "Who better to invite on an album about female fierceness than Nicki Minaj, whose understated verse steals the show and lends Grande some real danger." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

''s writer Rob Sheffield ranked "Side to Side" at number 22 on his list of "50 Best Songs of 2016", describing it as "an ode to having so much sex you can't walk straight the next day."

Commercial performance

Following the performance at the

on August 28, 2016, "Side to Side" made its official debut in the United States at number 31 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 dated September 17, 2016. The song leaped to number 18 the next week. After six weeks on the chart, the song hiked up 12–10 on the Hot 100 issue dated October 29, 2016, marking Grande's eighth top-ten entry on the chart and Minaj's thirteenth; it also doubles as the second top-ten single from ''Dangerous Woman''. The song later reached a peak of number four for two non-consecutive weeks, becoming the highest-charting single from the album. The song stayed in the Hot 100's top ten for 14 weeks of its chart run, dropping out of the top ten on January 28, 2017. The song also spent five weeks atop the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart, becoming Grande's second number-one on that chart, and Minaj's first. As of June 2020, the song has sold 1.17 million copies in the country. In Australia, "Side to Side" debuted at number 36 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offic ...

and has since peaked at number three, becoming her fourth top-ten single there. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number 10, becoming her fifth top-ten single there. It rose to number five the following week and peaked at two. and In the United Kingdom, "Side to Side" initially debuted on the

at number 66 in the week dated June 2, 2016 due to strong digital downloads from the parent album's release, but fell off the chart the following week. The song later re-entered at number 24 on the week dated September 9, 2016 following its official release as a single, and has since peaked at number four, earning Grande her fourth top-ten single there, and Minaj's tenth. As of March 2021, "Side to Side" is Grande's fifth most-streamed song in the United Kingdom and overall 37th most-streamed song by a female artist in the country.

Music video

Directed by

, the music video made its official premiere on American clothing brand Guess' website on the night of August 28, 2016. The music video opens with Grande leading a spin class on

stationary bicycle A stationary bicycle (also known as exercise bicycle, exercise bike, spinning bike, spin bike, or exercycle) is a device used as exercise equipment for indoor cycling. It includes a saddle, pedals, and some form of handlebars arranged as on ...

s, performing a synchronized choreography with backup dancers. The video then transitions to a gym and locker room scene, where Grande and the backup dancers are seen with

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

equipment. Grande and Minaj are then seen in a

sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...

, surrounded by male models. The video featured product placement from Guess. It surpassed 100 million views on September 19, 2016, making it Grande's twelfth Vevo-certified music video (reaching 100 million views) and Minaj's eighteenth Vevo-certified music video. On June 29, 2017, the video surpassed 1 billion views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

, and as of April 2022 has received over 2 billion views, making it one of the 70 most viewed YouTube videos. It later became Grande's most viewed video, surpassing " Problem". The music video has since received a nomination at the

for Best Choreography.

Live performances

Grande performed "Side to Side" for the first time in "Vevo Presents" show in May 2016. Later, she performed at the

with Minaj. Stationary bicycles and a

pommel horse The pommel horse is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal body covered with foam rubber and ...

were featured as props in the performance. Grande also performed the song on ''

'' on September 8, 2016. Additionally, she performed the single in an acoustic medley with " Into You" on ''

'' on September 14, 2016. On September 24, 2016, she performed the song at the 2016

iHeartRadio Music Festival The iHeartRadio Music Festival is a two-day music concert festival held every year in September since 2011 by iHeartRadio along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. From 2011 to 2015, the festival was held at the MGM Gran ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

. On November 20, 2016, Grande and Minaj performed "Side to Side" at the 2016 American Music Awards. It was named the best performance of the night by editor Andrew Unterberger from ''Billboard''. On June 4, 2017, the song was part of Grande's set list for ''

One Love Manchester One Love Manchester was a benefit concert and British television special on 4 June 2017, organised by American singer Ariana Grande, Simon Moran, Melvin Benn and Scooter Braun in response to the Manchester Arena bombing after Grande's concer ...

'', a benefit concert for the victims of the

Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...

. Minaj has performed the song on the setlist of her 2019 Europe tour, The Nicki Wrld Tour. Similarly, Grande has performed the song on the

Dangerous Woman Tour The Dangerous Woman Tour was the third concert tour and the second arena tour by American singer Ariana Grande in support of her third studio album, '' Dangerous Woman'' (2016). It traveled across North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and O ...

, 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 ...

and at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, along with Minaj at the latter.

Usage in media

The song is featured in a

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...

commercial which also features Grande. It was also played in the television show '' Crashing.'' The song is featured in the 2017 dance rhythm game, ''

Just Dance 2018 ''Just Dance 2018'' is a 2017 dance rhythm game developed and published by Ubisoft. It was unveiled on June 12, 2017, during its E3 press conference as the ninth main installment of the series, and was released in October 2017 for PlayStation 3, ...

''.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from ''Dangerous Woman''s

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

. Recording * Recorded at MXM Studios and Wolf Cousins Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) * Minaj's verses recorded at Glenwood Place Studios ( Burbank, California) and MilkBoy the Studio (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) * Mixed at MixStar Studios (

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

) * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) Management * Published by MXM ( ASCAP) — administered by Kobalt (ASCAP), Wolf Cousins (STIM), Warner/Chappell Music (STIM), Harajuku Barbie Music/Money Mack Music/Songs of Universal, Inc. ( BMI) and Grandefinale LLC *

appears courtesy of

Cash Money Records Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. Distributed by Republic, formerly known as Universal Republic, the label has been home to a roster of mostly hip ...

Personnel * Ariana Grande – lead vocals,

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– featured vocals, songwriting *

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

– songwriting,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, programming, keyboard, guitar, bass, percussion *

– songwriting, backing vocals * Ilya Salmanzadeh – songwriting, production, programming, keyboard, guitar, bass, percussion *

– songwriting * Chonita Gilbert – backing vocals *

– backing vocals *Taura Stinson – backing vocals *

Serban Ghenea Șerban Ghenea (born October 13, 1969) is a Grammy award-winning Romanian-Canadian audio engineer and mixer. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1969. In 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. He later attended ...

– mixing *Sam Holland – engineering *John Hanes – mixing engineering *Joel Metzler – assistant engineering *Jordan Silva – assistant engineering *Tom Coyne – mastering *Aya Merrill – mastering *Wendy Goldstein – A&R *

Scooter Braun Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun (born June 18, 1981) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and entertainment executive. Known as the manager for artists such as Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, J Balvin, Demi Lovato, The Kid Laroi and other artists ...

– A&R

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2016 singles 2016 songs Ariana Grande songs Nicki Minaj songs Republic Records singles Reggae fusion songs Song recordings produced by Ilya Salmanzadeh Song recordings produced by Max Martin Songs written by Alexander Kronlund Songs written by Ariana Grande Songs written by Nicki Minaj Songs written by Ilya Salmanzadeh Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Savan Kotecha Music videos directed by Hannah Lux Davis Number-one singles in Greece Female vocal duets

Background and composition

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Music video

Live performances

Usage in media

Credits and personnel

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

References