MUSIC
Doja Cat teases her new rap-only album via screenshot
The ‘Streets’ singer has been working on the album for over a year.
Doja Cat recently teased fans with a screenshot on Twitter of some working titles of tracks off her upcoming rap-only album, ‘Hellmouth’.
After dropping hints about the vision for her fourth album, including a half-pop, half-rap double album, and even a punk album, Doja confirmed in follow-up tweets that she’s going full-rap.
What genre is ‘Hellmouth’?
With a title like ‘Hellmouth’, which was revealed in a Tweet on March 21 with Doja simply tweeting “#hellmouth”, fans are anticipating a fierce followup to the lush sounds of 2021’s ‘Planet Her’.
In older interviews, the artist has speculated a number of different sounds for her fourth album.
She told CR Fashion Book that “I’m very into this ‘90s German rave kind of vibe right now and it’s really fun,” and in a 2021 Instagram live, said she was thinking of a double album that was half-pop and half-rap.
Today she confirmed it will not have a “punk” sound, after saying in a Variety interview earlier this year that she “[wants] to explore more of a raw, unfiltered, hardcore punk sort of thing.”
After sharing a screenshot of the working titles for three tracks from the album, she tweeted “no more pop”, confirming her previous comments that the new album is going to be more rap-oriented, adding that pop “isn’t exciting” to her anymore.
Doja Cat releasing rap album despite naysayers
In her Variety interview, Doja understands that people will have a hard time accepting her putting out an entire rap album, especially after the success of pop hits like ‘Say So’, ‘Kiss Me More ft. SZA’, and ‘You Right ft. The Weeknd’.
“[So] with that alone, I’m constantly being shoved down people’s throats. I would be upset if I saw somebody who has kind of been fed to me as this pop-star girl with a fat a– making it to this level of rap icon, after I’ve only been watching them do disco shit and pop s— all the time.”
Doja says she’s prepared to lose momentum on the top 40 if it means having a hit rap album instead.
“I’ve rapped since the beginning, and I really couldn’t even sing that well to begin with—I got a lot better,” Doja told Elle in a 2022 interview.
“I use my voice as a tool to create these worlds, and it’s fine if people think that I can’t rap.”
She tweeted that she’s aware that people doubt her rap skills and that both the criticism she’s faced and her love of making music has motivated her to put out a new album.
‘Hellmouth’ is expected to be released sometime in 2023, according to Variety.