Most of us remember Matt Bennett as the awkward teenager from Nickelodeon’s Victorious, who was never spotted without his puppet/best friend, Rex. Matt’s character definitely had his quirks, but so did his best human friend on the show, Cat Valentine. Cat was lighthearted, spontaneous, and was played by none other than Ariana Grande. Matt and Ariana have maintained a strong friendship since the show ended in 2013, with Matt even making an appearance in Ariana’s videos for “One Last Time” in 2015 and “thank u, next” in 2018.
Ariana celebrated her 27th birthday last week, and in honor of his bestie’s birthday, Matt released a special cover of “7 rings” from Ariana’s album, thank u, next. While Matt is not exactly known for his singing, he went all in for this cover. It was light, affectionate, and very original. Along with the cover, Matt revealed that he went the extra mile and covered all of thank u, next. If this project was going to be anything like his version of “7 rings,” then we were all in for something amazing.
Matt has uploaded this tribute album, Thank Me, Next, onto YouTube. The album features 11 of the 12 tracks from thank u, next, and is sure to make any fan of the original proud – or smile, at least. We have a fun ska version of “make up,” an acoustic version of “needy,” and a version of “bad idea” that is reminiscent of Gotye’s smash single, “Somebody That I Used To Know.” One of my favorite covers on Thank Me, Next, though, is “ghostin.” The song features pop singer, Lulu Simon, along with a recognizable motif from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
You can check out Thank Me, Next below, and if you want to stay up to date with all of Matt’s endeavors, you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
