Doja’s album was not the revolutionary change that felt promised.
Doja Cat’s new album Scarlet was initially a promising release, seemingly aiming to distance Doja from her biggest hits which she described as “cash grabs.”
Doja’s last album, Planet Her, was released in 2021 featuring hit songs like ‘Woman’ and ‘Need to Know’ which dominated the charts the entire year. Doja explored many genres throughout her last work expanding from hip-hop and R&B to afrobeat and hyperpop, creating a range of unique pop songs; Planet Her felt like an album curated with creativity.
Her growth has been nothing short of incredible. Starting off at 17, she released ‘So High‘ which was originally submitted to Soundcloud and now has over 200 million listens on Spotify. However, during the promotion for Scarlet, Doja said her upcoming album would be her true sound.
Unfortunately, Scarlet is not the revolutionary album promised. The record’s biggest hit ‘Paint the Town Red’ was promoted before the album release and currently sits at #1 on Billboard Hot 100 for its second week. Sampling Dionne Warwick’s ‘Walk on By‘, ‘Paint the Town Red’ is a repetitive song with simple and basic patterns. The song is a disappointing track, failing to offer spark. Despite the interesting choice of sample, it feels like an easy listening song that aims to appeal a wider audience. The release of ‘Paint the Town Red’ suggests that Doja’s new sound might just be a duller and more boring version of Planet Her.
Doja’s lyricism remains strikingly different from others in the industry. Her lyrics are filled with original ideas that makes her sound so appealing. Her unparalleled creativity and artistry are unfortunately extremely lacking on Scarlet.
Flex culture is a theme that had taken over rap but Doja’s lack of attention to the theme made her stand out in rap. On Scarlet, Doja still decided to take this flex culture lyricism and makes this album tiring to hear. The “What are those” line heard in two different tracks feels like lazy writing bringing out the attention from the song and fails to show Doja’s lyrical prowess.
‘Demons‘ was originally very dislikeable until Doja’s performance at the VMAs transformed the song and demonstrated her true artistry. Nevertheless, the song remains one of the most annoying in the album. With a constant loop playing, Doja talks about the criticism she’s received throughout her career. “I’m a puppet. I’m a sheep. I’m a cash cow.” reflects on comments by the public on her older music. The cocky flow she presents clearly introduces ‘Demons‘ as a diss track to everyone who doubts her potential. The lyricism sometimes fails to attract me, but the song is a perfect example of the new sound Doja was promising.
There are songs that stand out lyrically; ‘Fuck the Girls’ speaks on the hypocrisy Doja sees in women turning against her. ‘Agora Hills’ features incredible lyrics and a great flow that make it an interesting listen. ‘Ouchies‘ is one of my favourite tracks on the album. The flow, the anger, the emotion. The track brings me back to an old hip hop sound, yet it becomes disappointing how short the song is.
The album then starts becoming repetitive. Songs like ‘Gun‘, ‘Go Off‘, and ‘Shutcho‘, start to sound similar, the lyrics start to blend. This is the biggest setback of the album; Doja always felt she gave purpose to every word and every moment, her previous work all sounds authentic and cohesive, but this was not accomplished in Scarlet.
Doja has incredible artistry, and her older songs are forever proof of her capabilities as an artist. The tracks on her older albums all felt necessary to complement the project but that was not something passed down to this album.
Scarlet felt that it was going to be the most important album of Doja’s career but it unfortunately falls well short.
6/10