Ariana Grande Revisits Dangerous Woman Era With ‘Knew Better Part Two’ as Album Turns 10
A decade after Dangerous Woman helped redefine Ariana Grande’s career, the pop star is marking the milestone by officially reviving a fan-favorite deep cut from that era.
Grande released “Knew Better Part Two” this week in celebration of the album’s 10th anniversary, formally bringing a track long familiar to dedicated fans into the broader anniversary conversation. The song serves as an extension of “Knew Better / Forever Boy,” one of the closing tracks on her 2016 album, revisiting the same emotional territory with a sharper and more fully realized continuation of the original concept.
Grande first shared “Knew Better Part Two” informally on SoundCloud shortly after Dangerous Woman arrived in 2016, where it quickly became one of those semi-mythical fan-era artifacts that lived outside the formal streaming ecosystem. While not entirely unknown, its return now folds a once-peripheral release back into the official timeline of an album that marked a major turning point in Grande’s artistic evolution.
Coming off the brighter, more youthful pop identity of her earlier records, the album positioned Grande in a more assertive creative space, leaning into darker production, heavier R&B influence, and a more deliberate sense of emotional and artistic control. It was the project that began solidifying her transition from former Nickelodeon star to full-scale pop headliner with a more distinct sonic identity.
The original track blended trap-pop production with emotionally pointed songwriting, framing Grande in a more confrontational mode than many of her earlier singles. “Part Two” continues that perspective, building on the same lyrical premise while giving the material a more expansive standalone identity.
Her upcoming eighth album, Petal, is scheduled for release on July 31 through BabyDoll and Republic Records, marking her first full-length studio album since Eternal Sunshine in 2024. Details surrounding the project remain tightly controlled, but Grande has offered some insight into its emotional framework, describing the record as more instinctive, emotionally untamed, and centered around breaking away from unhealthy attachments, both internal and external.
The album’s lead single, “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” is set to arrive May 29, with longtime collaborator Ilya co-writing and producing the project. Max Martin is also credited on the single, reuniting Grande with one of modern pop’s most consistent hitmakers.
Petal arrives during one of the more unusual stretches of Grande’s career, where her identity as a musician has increasingly intersected with high-profile film work.
Her last major public chapter centered around her performance as Glinda in the Wicked film adaptation, that transition appears set to continue, with Grande also attached to Focker In-Law, where she will appear alongside Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro. She is also expected to return to live theater in 2027 in a West End revival of Sunday in the Park With George, where she will star opposite Jonathan Bailey.
