Scarlet is the fourth studio album by American rapper and singer Doja Cat. It was released on September 22, 2023, via Kemosabe and RCA Records. Disillusioned with pop music and dissatisfied with music critics questioning her status as a rapper, Doja Cat felt inspired to create a "masculine" follow-up to her third studio album, Planet Her (2021). Her first project since her debut EP with no features, the record marks a departure from the pop-driven sounds of its predecessor, being predominantly centered around the genres of hip hop and R&B.
Scarlet yielded two singles. Its lead single, "Paint the Town Red", became a massive commercial success, and marked Doja Cat's first solo number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100, the UK Singles Chart, the Billboard Global 200, and several other national charts worldwide. It was followed by "Agora Hills" in September 2023. Promotional singles for the album include "Attention", "Demons" and "Balut". To support the album, Doja Cat will embark on the Scarlet Tour in October 2023, her first arena tour as a headliner. The album received mostly positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised its production, lyrics, and versatility in comparison to her previous albums.
Background
Doja Cat began her career as a rapper heavily involved with the underground scene in her hometown of Los Angeles. She rose to prominence in August 2018 as an internet meme, following the viral success of her novelty song "Mooo!". She continued to gain mainstream attention with her pop and R&B-infused second studio album, Hot Pink (2019). The remix to its standout single "Say So", which featured Nicki Minaj, became the first song by a female rap duo to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Doja Cat's third studio album, Planet Her (2021), continued the pop-R&B blend and was met with critical and commercial success. It became the most-streamed album by a female rapper on Spotify, and its lead single, "Kiss Me More" featuring SZA, won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
After being nominated for the BET Award for Best Female Hip Hop Artist in May 2021, Doja Cat was criticized by social media users who felt she was "too pop" to be considered as a rapper. She responded to the criticism on Twitter, by writing, "Don't ever fuckin disrespect me as a rapper. After the last song I dropped, you will respect my pen and that's fuckin that." She weighed in further on the debate during a cover story with Rolling Stone in December, saying, "Anyone who says that I'm not a rapper is in denial. They don't know what they're talking about." A few days after the profile piece was published, Doja Cat revealed on an Instagram livestream that she was interested in creating a double album; with one side focused on her pop rap sounds, and the other side containing 12 hip hop songs produced by 9th Wonder and Jay Versace.
In an interview with Elle in May 2022, Doja Cat addressed claims that she was not a rapper in the "traditional sense" by stating that she has "rapped since the beginning, and I really couldn't even sing that well to begin with—I got a lot better. I use my voice as a tool to create these worlds, and it's fine if people think that I can't rap." She also confirmed that her upcoming fourth studio album will be "predominantly rap". She doubled down on the album's main genre in April 2023 by stating "no more pop", and that she agrees with "everyone who said the majority of my rap verses are mid and corny. I know they are. I wasn't trying to prove anything, I just enjoy making music. But I'm getting tired of hearing y'all say that I can't, so I will." Doja Cat also denounced her previous two albums as "cash grabs" and "digestible pop hits". On April 26, radio personality Ebro Darden shared that he had the opportunity to listen to approximately eight songs from the album while it was in its "early stages", stating "I heard straight rap records". After being asked about potential producers, he responded "I don't even think it's producers that we know. I think she's got her own batch of producers." In April 2023 while drafting the tracklist, she revealed the titles of several tracks that would later make the final cut. On August 27, she revealed that the album was finished, and she announced the release of the album three days later.Scarlet is the fourth studio album by American rapper and singer Doja Cat. It was released on September 22, 2023, via Kemosabe and RCA Records. Disillusioned with pop music and dissatisfied with music critics questioning her status as a rapper, Doja Cat felt inspired to create a "masculine" follow-up to her third studio album, Planet Her (2021). Her first project since her debut EP with no features, the record marks a departure from the pop-driven sounds of its predecessor, being predominantly centered around the genres of hip hop and R&B.
Scarlet yielded two singles. Its lead single, "Paint the Town Red", became a massive commercial success, and marked Doja Cat's first solo number-one on the US Billboard Hot 100, the UK Singles Chart, the Billboard Global 200, and several other national charts worldwide. It was followed by "Agora Hills" in September 2023. Promotional singles for the album include "Attention", "Demons" and "Balut". To support the album, Doja Cat will embark on the Scarlet Tour in October 2023, her first arena tour as a headliner. The album received mostly positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised its production, lyrics, and versatility in comparison to her previous albums.
Background
Doja Cat began her career as a rapper heavily involved with the underground scene in her hometown of Los Angeles. She rose to prominence in August 2018 as an internet meme, following the viral success of her novelty song "Mooo!". She continued to gain mainstream attention with her pop and R&B-infused second studio album, Hot Pink (2019). The remix to its standout single "Say So", which featured Nicki Minaj, became the first song by a female rap duo to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Doja Cat's third studio album, Planet Her (2021), continued the pop-R&B blend and was met with critical and commercial success. It became the most-streamed album by a female rapper on Spotify, and its lead single, "Kiss Me More" featuring SZA, won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
After being nominated for the BET Award for Best Female Hip Hop Artist in May 2021, Doja Cat was criticized by social media users who felt she was "too pop" to be considered as a rapper. She responded to the criticism on Twitter, by writing, "Don't ever fuckin disrespect me as a rapper. After the last song I dropped, you will respect my pen and that's fuckin that." She weighed in further on the debate during a cover story with Rolling Stone in December, saying, "Anyone who says that I'm not a rapper is in denial. They don't know what they're talking about." A few days after the profile piece was published, Doja Cat revealed on an Instagram livestream that she was interested in creating a double album; with one side focused on her pop rap sounds, and the other side containing 12 hip hop songs produced by 9th Wonder and Jay Versace.
In an interview with Elle in May 2022, Doja Cat addressed claims that she was not a rapper in the "traditional sense" by stating that she has "rapped since the beginning, and I really couldn't even sing that well to begin with—I got a lot better. I use my voice as a tool to create these worlds, and it's fine if people think that I can't rap." She also confirmed that her upcoming fourth studio album will be "predominantly rap". She doubled down on the album's main genre in April 2023 by stating "no more pop", and that she agrees with "everyone who said the majority of my rap verses are mid and corny. I know they are. I wasn't trying to prove anything, I just enjoy making music. But I'm getting tired of hearing y'all say that I can't, so I will." Doja Cat also denounced her previous two albums as "cash grabs" and "digestible pop hits". On April 26, radio personality Ebro Darden shared that he had the opportunity to listen to approximately eight songs from the album while it was in its "early stages", stating "I heard straight rap records". After being asked about potential producers, he responded "I don't even think it's producers that we know. I think she's got her own batch of producers." In April 2023 while drafting the tracklist, she revealed the titles of several tracks that would later make the final cut. On August 27, she revealed that the album was finished, and she announced the release of the album three days later.false2023-09-23 09:42:08Scarlet1020232023-09-222023-09-2257Hip HopPopR&B1506422417281a3ce788c-109b-4c97-97ee-991056217c5e5df62a88-cac9-490a-b62c-c7c88f4020f477434d0b-1c5f-48c3-8694-050cb378ebd2Doja CatAlbumArtistDoja CatArtistDoja CatDoja CatAmala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (Zulu pronunciation: [ˈzandile ˈɮamini]; born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (), is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song "So High" caught the attention of Kemosabe and RCA Records, with whom she signed a recording contract prior to the release of her debut extended play, Purrr! in 2014.
After a hiatus from releasing music and the uneventful rollout of her debut studio album, Amala (2018), Doja Cat earned viral success as an internet meme with her 2018 single "Mooo!", a novelty song in which she makes humorous claims about being a cow. Capitalizing on her growing popularity, she released her second studio album, Hot Pink, in the following year. The album later reached the top ten of the US Billboard 200 and spawned the single "Say So"; its remix featuring Nicki Minaj topped the Billboard Hot 100. Her third studio album, Planet Her (2021), spent four weeks at number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned the top ten singles "Kiss Me More" (featuring SZA), "Need to Know", and "Woman". Her fourth studio album, Scarlet (2023), adopted a hip hop-oriented sound and peaked within the top five of the Billboard 200, while its lead single "Paint the Town Red" became her most successful song to date, as it marked her first solo number-one on the Hot 100 among eight other countries.
Described by The Wall Street Journal as "a skilled technical rapper with a strong melodic sense and a bold visual presence", Doja Cat is known for creating videos and performances which achieve virality on social media platforms such as TikTok. Well-versed in Internet culture, she is also famed for her absurdist online personality and stage presence. She has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including one Grammy Award from sixteen nominations, five Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, and five MTV Video Music Awards. She is one of the biggest commercial artists of the 2020s according to Billboard, and was included on the 100 most influential people in the world by Time in 2023.