“Scarlet,” released by Doja Cat on Sept. 22, is a clear attempt from Doja to be named an industry-standard rapper. In 2018, Doja originally went viral with her joke song “Moo!” and from there grew into a recognizable pop star. While enjoying her success, Doja tweeted in April “no more pop.” Will she escape the pop stereotype in “Scarlet”?
The short answer is no. Overall, “Scarlet” seemed as if Doja typed into Google “elements of a rap album” and just tried to hit all the important points. One answer that definitely came up, in said Google search, was bragging about the rapper’s own successes and including a voicemail. Both of these elements make it appear that Doja was just trying to check off a list instead of including these elements for artistic style.
There was not one song on the album where Doja did not point out her virality or wealth. Some of these lyrics included, from the track “Demons,” “I am on to bigger things / I just bought a limousine (A limousine).” Also in “F**k The Girls (FTG),” which states, “Who dare ride my new Versace coattails? You can’t buy none that if it was wholesale.” In “Agora Hills,” Doja raps, “It’s so lonely in my mansion.” This type of bragging is overly excessive and unnecessary to the songs because it is so overdone to the point where the meaning of the song is being missed.
To check off the quintessential voicemail element of rap songs, Doja features a phone call between an unnamed woman, who has a heavy valley girl accent, and her significant other, in her song “Agora Hills” This element is pointless because nothing in the song relates to the voicemail.
One of the tracks that ruins the album is “F**k The Girls (FTG).” In this song and throughout the album, Doja seems pretty hostile toward women. This song in particular describes how Doja hates the girls that go against her. The song features lyrics like, “I don’t need ‘em, I’m too pretty, so f**k the girls” and “Every region, every city, the whole damn world stay sayin’ f**k the girls.”
The idea of Doja encouraging her listeners to gang up on women may rub some people the wrong way. In “Agora Hills,” one lyric also demonstrates this hatred by saying, “gun to their pigtail.” Again, this aggressive anger seems very uncomfortable and the description of a pigtail seems to connote the image of a gun held up to a little girl’s head. Previously, Doja Cat’s music usually served as get-ready hype tunes, but these songs definitely will not be featured on any type of empowerment playlist. This type of hatred seems like a direct contrast to her previous album titled “Planet Her.”
Despite this, “Scarlet” still has some redeemable qualities. Remnants of the elements featured in “Planet Her” still subtly exist. “Go off,” unlike the messages found in the rest of “Scarlet,” empowers women. “Go Off” is a best friend encouraging a good time and shares a softer and more pop-like tone, a similar style to what made Doja popular in the first place. This feel-good song is what Doja should stick to.
Similarly, Doja’s song “Paint The Town Red” also shares her past style. The chorus of the song became popularized by a TikTok dance trend that came about in late August. Because of the song’s virality, expectations were set high for the entire album. Unfortunately, it set expectations too high. Most of the tracks fell short because of Doja’s attempt to escape her pop star title.
One commendable aspect of the album is Doja’s subtle nods to how she got famous. In the track titled “Demons,” Doja includes the lyrics, “What are those?” This is a reference to the very popularized meme where a person makes fun of someone else’s shoes. This reference is Doja’s way of acknowledging how she originated from a meme song and this subtle nod shows that Doja can still acknowledge her roots.
In the track titled “Love Life,” Doja pays tribute to her team and her fans. There has been recent turmoil with Doja not respecting her fans, so this was Doja’s way of writing an apology. While it is commendable that Doja is recognizing her past mistakes, this song felt as if a scripted YouTuber apology video was somehow turned into a song. It is a good listen for fans to get the apology they deserve, but it ends there. It is not a song to be played over and over again.
Doja’s past album “Planet Her” went above and beyond. It is unfair to judge because there is no way anything could surpass that album. This high expectation coupled with Doja’s attempt to escape her popstar reputation left many disappointed. Maybe pop is Doja’s forté and she should stick to music that constantly goes viral on TikTok.
