In low-rise flares, 7 chains, and a leather duster that Neo would envy, Doja Cat is back, and rapping more masterfully than ever. On her brand-new single, “Attention,” Doja sounds calm, positive, and newly stimulated—many of all, she simply appears cool. Although an accompanying video directed by Tanu Muino leaves a lot of low-light room for horny, kaleidoscopic weirdness, the humanoid, crooning pop of Doja’s last album cycle (a task that controlled TikTok) is gone. Whether that’s irreversible or not, Doja’s comfortability inching far from pop fame—not to discuss her skills on the mic—tips that this modification might be great for the music.
As Doja walks down a hectic nighttime city street filled with street suppliers and clubgoers, she leans into a casual swagger that lays the bedrock for among her greatest verses in a minute, a minute that feels comparable to Megan Thee Stallion’s 2022 Coachella launching of “Plan B”. In the video, Doja evades disfigured or masked passersby, often pushing into one simply to advise the street she doesn’t provide a fuck. She quickly lands punches at cynics who clown her appearance, pit her versus Nicki Minaj, and eventually, overlook her music. As she clearly puts it, “I am not afraid to finally say shit with my chest.”
She’s been walking the walk on that declaration, too, frequently in manner ins which feel unexpected from such a significant artist. Earlier this year, Doja Cat openly decried her last 2 albums, 2021’s Planet Her and 2019’s Hot Pink, as “cash grabs.” The declaration showed up after hinting that she prepared to go back to her roots as a rap artist on her next task.
“planet her and hot pink were cash-grabs and yall fell for it,” Doja Cat tweeted. “now i can go disappear somewhere and touch grass with my loved ones on an island while yall weep for mediocre pop.” (The A.V. Club, for what it’s worth, did not precisely gush over Planet Her). Although a few of that “mediocre pop” definitely still hits, Doja’s impending MC age is cause for attention and event.
