Album Review: Scarlet | Doja Cat
Miss Cat needs her claws trimmed
Rapper, pop star, hitmaker, and Gen Z’s mother, Doja Cat, returns from her much-needed rest to deliver her most provocative project yet, Scarlet. Doja Cat disrupted the music industry in the COVID era, spawning 8 top 10 hits. Fun pop-based tracks like Say So, Kiss Me More & Woman helped propel Doja into superstar status amid the pandemic. In her newest project, Doja Cat tries to pivot. In a now-deleted tweet, Doja strangely went after her fans and really put them down for liking the music she put out previously.
In the early days of the Scarlet era, it was understood well that this album would seek to ditch the fun, clean pop sound that defined Doja. Her vision was to lean more toward hip-hop to be taken seriously as a rapper. New sounds from artists can often lead to polarizing projects, splitting fans alike; Scarlet is no different.
Scarlet is Doja’s rejection of what it means to be a pop star, opting to define her fame in her own words, at least in theory. Sonically, the album is a detour from the clean pop cuts that made Doja Cat successful. Scarlet opts to employ hip-hop on this album, a route she hasn’t taken to this extent since her first project, Amala. Doja’s “no more pop” decision definitely adds to the idea that Doja Cat is not the clean pop star we know and love but fails to give a unique direction on who she is choosing to be.
Lyrically, Doja isn’t really telling us who she is, either. The most direct insight we get can be found in the albums opener, Paint The Town Red, rapping, “Pop make money, now you try, b*tch / You could use a revamp with a new vibe, sis / I don’t need a big feature or a new sidekick.” Ironically, the song is her most pop-radio-friendly track on the album, snagging the Billboard Hot 100s’ top spot.
Doja raps on this project and proves she can do it, but should she? Scarlet does contain some of Doja’s best bars to date. Love Life, Attention, F**k The Girls, and Ouchies clearly show Doja’s ability to spit. However, she raps about absolute nonsense for the better part of the album. Not to say that we would necessarily look to Doja for a deep, reflective narrative, but at least have SOMETHING to say. You can tell that Doja wrote this entire album solo because every song has the same structure.
The highlights here are the songs that sound most like her previous work (Paint The Town Red, Agora Hills, and Attention). Her pop songs continue to show her talent and brilliance, but the rap songs remind us that she doesn’t have much to say.
We’re hoping she can return to the popstar who seamlessly blends rap, R&B, & pop full of charisma, which made her one of the more exciting artists to check out. Doja’s passion is apparent all over this record. You can tell she’s trying to prove something, but we’re left with the impression that even she doesn’t know who or what she’s trying to prove.
Check out our favorite tracks, listen to the album, and see our scores below:
Can’t Miss: Paint The Town Red, Agora Hills, Attention, Can't Wait
You Can Skip: (mostly everything else)
BY THE NUMBERS
Bennett’s Score: 6.12
Carson’s Score: 5.12
Album Score: 11.24
Notes from Bennett:
I like the rap stuff! My favorite Doja songs all come from the Hot Pink era, a more evenly distributed rap/pop record. Juicy, Tia Tamera (with Rico Nasty), and Rules just to name a few.
The first 2 bars of the second verse of F**k The Girls is crazy. cooked.
I can’t get over her voice on Agora Hills. The kind of sorority-pick-me voice (?) kind of rapping sounds so cool. I also think this song is a nod to everyone’s favorite influence, Queen Nicki Minaj. The different voices/personas used to write and tell this love story have got to be a nod to Nicki’s personality she brings to her music.
On first listen, this album had me JUMPING at some of these bars. I had to pull up Genius a couple of times. The Mike Tyson / Billie Eilish / Remi Ma bars on Ouchies were wild.
Notes from Carson:
This album is superrrrrr mid! Never found so many tracks that were an immediately no on any other album this year. Also would be a much stronger project if she cut some tracks.
Every song is the same verse chorus verse chorus end and it’s too much. Needed some more interesting song structure, particularly in a hip-hop-oriented project.
A whole album about “F the haters!” “I have so much money!” is never a good idea. Please. Make it end
Ouchies is a bop and will be put on my lifting playlist immediately.
Just a side note I obviously knew the project wouldn’t be great if you have to resort to demon/satanic imagery. The gimmick is up. If the music can’t speak for itself you have to have a way to cut through the clutter and get people riled up and using that type of aesthetic always works to get people talking (Lil Nas X).
Agora Hills is a banger and stupid and just unoffensive enough to be a smash hit.
Attention is the one interesting rap song I have gravitated towards on this record and really encapsulated Doja’s vision for the record.
Gave my first 0 (song should not exist!) on this album. Not even going to mention it because it should not exist.
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We’ve updated our All-Time Album Rankings page. Stay tuned for more updates with the overall songs coming soon!
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Scarlet | Doja Cat | Score: 11.24