It is rare for public people to intentionally alienate their supporters and still remain unscathed, but earlier this year Doja Cat seemingly made the ultimate power move when she effectively turned off her entire fan base. Even though she lost almost a quarter of a million Instagram followers for being rude to her fans, who she nicknamed “Kittenz,” the buzz about her grew despite her drastic decline in social media following. Fans interpreted her recent hint that the majority of her industry catalog was a money-driven scam as a jab at people who had supported her work from the beginning. Scarlet, Doja Cat’s fourth studio album, was heavily promoted by drawing attention to the controversy that surrounded her in 2023.
She continued to capitalize on her image as a full-time provocateur in the months preceding its release, releasing four terrifying smash songs that suggested a highly anticipated album of the year. But it quickly became clear that the most thrilling parts of her current chapter had been exhausted when the full tracklist was eventually made available to the public. After the first thrill fades, the monotonous lyrics of the majority of the songs become more noticeable with each repeat, until they start to sound like the same commercial albums she pledged to avoid. Doja reaffirms her power, doesn’t feel the need to apologize for her overtly sexual behavior, and keeps up her dominant demeanor. Not only that, but she’s working with the devil—who isn’t these days? Doja Cat was unable to go past the eccentricities she had so firmly defined about herself because she was preoccupied with telling everyone how good a rapper she is. She had set herself up to either climax or crash spectacularly with Scarlet, but in the end, she hardly moved from her initial position. Each of the four promotional singles for the album perfectly captured its main ideas. The self-aware and self-explanatory song “Attention” highlights her infatuation with, well, being the focus of attention.
“Demons” and “Paint the Town Red” both show her sly response to critics who dismissed her, calling her unholy, shameless, and without virtue, among many other insults. “Balut” is a straightforward, hard-hitting rap song that solidifies her reputation as an MC. When these cuts were compared to 17 other compositions made with the same components, they lost their impact, despite being amazing as standalone releases. The album’s five-song runtime, which includes songs like “Ouchies” and “Shutcho,” may best capture the monotony that this record keeps falling into. It’s worth listening to the album Scarlet, but it’s worth hearing. It sounds wonderful, so it’s still perhaps Doja’s most compelling piece of work to date, but it lacks the essential elements to ensure a lasting legacy. The vocal delivery, which keeps her gruff voice dragging over a beat with effortless precision, never grows old, and the package as a whole is praised for the rich tastes it gives. Her vocal performance shines on two songs in particular, “Can’t Wait” and “Skulls and Bones,” where she sings and raps in a delicate yet powerful style that sets them apart from the other songs. Additionally, catchy phrases like “I wanna show you off” from “Agora Hills” and “You must do this often” from “Often” are significantly more enduring than the heavy bars that make up the majority of the record and express virtually little in a long word.
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