Ariana Grande Reaches Top Tier Pop Status With 'My Everything'

At just 20 years old, singer Ariana Grande has achieved something that only the top tier pop divas before her have accomplished: her first two albums went straight to no. 1 on Billboard. Grande hit this rare milestone last week with the release of her sophomore record, "My Everything," which came out less than a year after her excellent debut "Yours Truly."

Grande is the first female pop star to have her first two LPs reach the top spot since Susan Boyle took the world by storm in 2010. "My Everything" sold a modest 169,000 copies, which isn't amazing, but it's not terrible either. Last year, heavy hitters like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus moved around the same amount, but Beyonce managed to sell more than 600,000 copies with her surprise self-titled iTunes exclusive record.

But what puts Grande up there with Britney, Miley and the other woman who are the face of pop? Well, for starters, it's her voice. I dare you to find me an article about the young powerhouse that doesn't mention Mariah Carey - the two both have similar voices and have been compared countless times -- so much so, that it was revealed this week that media is not allowed to ask Grande questions about Mimi (along with a bunch of weird things).

She may be sick and tired of the Mariah comparisons, but it's hard not to connect the dots between the two singers. Besides having similar album covers, Grande has a song on "Yours Truly" called "Daydreamin'." Carey's fifth album (one of her best) is called "Daydream."

That's no coincidence though; Grande didn't hold back on "Yours Truly" and owned her R&B sound, for which she gained attention with the singles "The Way" and "Baby I." The album stood out from her peers because it was grounded with pop influences and accented with doo-wop flourishes. It was a perfect throwback at the right time when music fans craved '90s revival jams. And while Carey has had trouble finding her footing in the second half of the decade, many pinned their R&B hopes on Grande.

Before the dust could settle with "Yours Truly," Grande was back in the spotlight with her new single "Problem," featuring Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, which has been hailed as one of The Songs Of The Summer.

It's with "Problem" that Grande threw down the gauntlet and made her full transformation from a teen who started her career as Nickelodeon star, to a full fledged pop diva. Image alone, Grande shed her soft and tender virgin vibe (just take a look at the original album cover for "Yours Truly") and made a B-line towards sex kitten. The single artwork for "Problem" shows a leggy Grande playing with her hair with a stern "don't fuck with me" face. She's wearing white high heels, knee stockings and her thighs are exposed.

Initially, it felt like the artwork would garner more attention than the song but "Problem" instantly blew up. Grande left her innocent look behind along with her R&B sounds; gone were the smooth crooner producers and songwriters like Babyface, Jordan Sparks and Patrick "J. Que" Smith, who worked on "Yours Truly," and in their places were pop maestros Max Martin and his pal Shellback. And unsurprisingly, Martin created music magic and "Problem" shot up to no. 2 (it could not defeat Azalea's "Fancy," however).

On "Problem," Grande's mini-Mimi vocals take a backseat and instead she focuses on sound. A sexy horn section drives the song and Big Sean's peppered whispers make the song sound like the love child of the Ying Yang Twins' rap classic "Wait (The Whisper Song)" and Alexandra Stan's Euro hit "Mr. Saxobeat."

Fast forward a few months to July and the young singer returned in a drastic way by dropping a new single called "Break Free," her take on EDM. "Break Free," features and was produced by German musician Zedd, who is best known for the incredibly and shamefully addicting songs "Clarity" and "Stay the Night." Zedd is also the man behind the incredible Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj team up track "Beauty and the Beat" and three tracks off Lady Gaga's latest effort "ARTPOP," including the single "G.U.Y." so it's no surprise that "Break Free" also made it to Billboard's top 10, placing at no. 4.

"Break Free" is something Grande has never done before: a full blown electronic pop song. Though "Problem" was pretty saccharine, it still held on to some R&B roots. But on "Break Free," Grande easily inserted herself into the zeitgeist, for better and for worse.

"Break Free" isn't a terrible song - at best, it's a fun party jam and at worst, it's pretty basic. It's catchy enough and tells us Grande is not just the innocent little R&B chanteuse she was 10 months ago. That comes across on most of the songs on "My Everything," which boasts eight collaborations (if you count "Bang Bang," which is on the album's deluxe edition). "Yours Truly" had just two. She's taking some chances but, in a strange way, the album ends up being an inoffensive fluff record that really finds Grande taking chances with mediocrity.

Her new album contains the super radio friendly jams that won't rock the boat. It's accessible, listenable and most importantly sellable. In a weird way, this is an album you may expect from Ellie Goulding. It does have some high moments, however, like groovy "Love Me Harder," featuring the #problematic alternative R&B singer the Weeknd. But he's on his best behavior here and the duo's voices work incredibly well together. "Why Try" is instantly catchy, thanks to a marching drum beat and Grande's top notch vocals, which are showcased on the track. She also shines through on the ballad "Just a Little Bit of Your Heart" and the early 00s throwback dirty jam "Hands on Me" is a lot of fun.

There aren't really any low points, but cuts like the generic "One Last Time," sleepy "Best Mistake," featuring her rapper boyfriend Big Sean and the forgettable "Be My Baby" make you wonder if she should have waited longer than a year to follow up "Yours Truly."

But it doesn't really matter since "My Everything" is selling and it's only increased the ways Grande can be sold and packaged. She's broken records with her second release, and now sits up there with the Big Pop Divas. But let's not forget: Ashanti's first two albums topped the charts back in April 2002 and July 2003. And though her 2014 album "BraveHeart" debuted at No. 10 on Billboard, selling 28,000 copies, when is the last time you heard an Ashanti song on the radio?