Album Review: Doja Cat Borrows from the Best on 'Hot Pink'
Despite her ventures into almost too familiar territory and a lack of cohesion in the record overall, Doja Cat synthesizes conventions from multiple genres with her own unique style, cementing her as a tour-de-force in the rap scene.
Written by Minnah Zaheer
Photo courtesy of Jabari Jacobs
Amalaratna Dlamini, known as Doja Cat, has dropped her highly anticipated second full-length album Hot Pink. Taking herself seriously after finding mainstream success with her viral “Mooo!,” Dlamini uses Hot Pink to prove that she’s here to stay far beyond the short life-cycle of internet memes. Rather than making complete reinventions, many of the strongest moments on her record are borrowed from the conventions of other genres, but her prowess with these elements is masterful. Dlamini’s unique vocal delivery gives many of the tracks the life they need, making for a solid record overall.
Hot Pink starts off strong with the electropop-inspired “Cyber Sex,” which uses hi-hats and dreamy vocal layering to convey a sense of innocence despite the incredibly explicit sexual lyrics. It’s a great introduction to the album — Dlamini’s vocals switch between a simple melody and in-your-face rap verses, a technique that’s become a cornerstone of her style. On “Rules,” Dlamini displays her versatility in full-force. She finds a way to make lyrics as simple as “play with my p-ssy but don’t play with my emotions” sound interesting, and the melody behind the rap in the final chorus sells the lyric. Her real genius shows through when she glides effortlessly between different vocal techniques on the verses — she whispers, growls, and escalates to an arresting pace and strength. The recurring guitar lick in the background of the song starts off as a guide through which Dlamini navigates, rapping on rhythm, and by the end of the song she’s blasting through it and breaking the rules with mastery. “Bite” features St. Louis rapper Smino, and both of them navigate the beat and melody like Houston drivers in traffic. “Say So,” another highlight of the album, has a very psychedelic-rock vibe that complements Dlamini’s singing and rapping.
Photo courtesy of RCA Records
Despite key successes on certain tracks, however, the record might’ve been better off with some more time to develop what it begins to set up. Her slowed-down sample of the guitar riff from Blink-182’s classic “What’s My Age Again?” on the track “Bottom Bitch” is subtle enough to go almost unnoticed, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t match the heavy autotune on many of Dlamini’s verses. There’s a disconnect of genres on the record — some of the songs, like “Bottom Bitch” and “Rules,” are very rock-inspired, while others are more classic rap songs and still others take hints from genres across the music spectrum.
Instead of being a cohesive album, Hot Pink feels like a catalog of Dlamini’s various talents, and it often stumbles in trying to bring them all together. Dlamini seems unable to choose what kind of music she wants to make, whether it’s pop-twinged rap like on “Say So” and “Like That,” rock-inspired tracks like “Rules” and “Bottom Bitch,” or R&B songs like “Streets.” She’s successful in all of these attempts individually, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Even with its faults, however, Hot Pink is Dlamini’s most mature record to date. Known for her viral hit “Mooo!” and her nonchalant attitude, Dlamini is using every second of this record to showcase her talents. Regardless of her success in bringing them all together, her vocals and lyricism are refreshingly well-developed and much more reflective of her artistic talent than her meme-worthy songs of the past. It brings back the version of Dlamini that she presented to the world five years ago with her debut EP Purrr! and the smooth track “So High.”
Dlamini’s claim to fame may be that her songs went viral on social media and are lip-synced by users of the popular app TikTok, but she’s carving a spot for herself as a rap artist to be taken seriously. Even if she’s not producing the most original tracks, her growth in just the past year has been remarkable. Her vocal technique is unmatched by others in her class, and she’s successful at everything she tries — once she chooses a spot to dig into, she’ll be the absolute best at it.