The Voice coach Ariana Grande has critics raving about her new song "Just Look Up," featuring Kid Cudi, for the Netflix film, Don't Look Up. Netflix recently released the official trailer for the film, which premieres in December, where Ariana briefly appeared alongside Leonardo Dicaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. Ariana is set to play an airhead popstar named Riley Bina alongside Cudi. This marks the pop singer's first time starring in a feature film.
The song was written by Ariana, Kid Cudi, Nicholas Britell, and Taura Stinson specifically for the film. Stars like Taylor Swift and Adele have done the same for movies in the past. In 2012, Taylor Swift released both "Safe & Sound" and "Eyes Open" for the Hunger Games soundtrack, and in 2014 she released "Sweeter Than Fiction" for the film, One Chance. She repeated the feat in 2019 when she wrote "Beautiful Ghosts" with Andrew Lloyd Webber for Cats. She was nominated for three golden globes, losing in 2013 to Adele for her James Bond track, "Skyfall."
Ariana is following in the footsteps of her fellow stars, and critics are very impressed by her song, "Just Look Up." Jazz Tangcay, an editor for Variety, praised the song on Twitter, calling it "a banger and a ballad." She added that the song is "crashing into the Original song #Oscars race." The song also received praise for its satirical and message and for Ariana's vocals on the tune. AwardsWatch founder Erik Anderson called the song "f***ing hilarious.
Just Look Up was nominated for three Hollywood Music In Media Awards and won for Original Score for a feature film. A snippet from the song was played during the award show as nominations were being read. Ariana can be heard belting the lyrics "just look up" over a similar pop-r&b beat to her past songs. Fans are already celebrating the song and its early success.
The song seems to contradict the movie's title, and it's understandable why critics call it satire. If it fits with the description of The Voice coach's film character, then it's most likely a take on the sometimes ignorant and unaware pop culture world. It seems Ariana and Cudi's characters ignore the message Leo and Jennifer are trying to convey and instead urge fans to do the opposite. However, with just a snippet, it's hard to tell the true meaning of the song. Fans are surely counting the days until the entire song is available, but until then, Ariana has six studio albums they can loop until December 10th, when Don't Look Up premiers.
Don't Look Up premieres in select theaters on December 10th and will be released on Netflix on December 24th.
Source: Jazz Tangcay/ Twitter, Erik Anderson/ Twitter