Doja, born in 1995 and influenced by 2000s radio, doesn’t have a deep attachment to the period. There aren’t any specific tributes to ’80s idols, though she has cited Nina Hagen as an inspiration. (Hagen is “a sizzling woman who isn’t making an attempt to only be a sizzling woman,” Doja instructed The New York Occasions. “She has layers to her.” Preach.) The rapper’s predominant thought concerning the decade is actually that it was a time when women simply wished to have enjoyable—a message very appropriate with the Doja Cat expertise. Swinging synth-funk reduce “Take Me Dancing,” one other team-up with SZA, presents clubgoing as the right post-coital digestif. “You’re so uncooked, boy, and also you’re so romantic/Once you fuck me proper, and then you definitely take me dancing,” Doja sings on the hook, skipping throughout the roller-rink-ready beat in her ethereal higher register. She’s simply as unfastened and fun-forward on the gradual jam “All Mine,” cooing and harmonizing with herself over gleaming synths and keys. For Doja, the ’80s is a complete vibe.
That fuzzy connection to the last decade largely makes for a breezy hear, however Doja runs into hassle when the pastiche containers her in. Her singing and rapping are uncharacteristically binary on most songs, notably “Jealous Kind” and R&B monitor “Acts of Service,” the place the cool melodies largely preserve time till Doja spits. This has by no means been an issue in her music earlier than, however right here when she switches from rapping to singing, it will probably really feel as if she’s that includes herself moderately than altering route. All her expression and shade appears to get reserved for the rhymes.
That’s the case on the groovy “{Couples} Remedy,” which options a few of her deftest singing however actually erupts with character as soon as she begins rapping. “Cussing you out, you the one I resent/Cussing you out, I delete and re-send/Sorry, I bought three selves, one’s 12/Sorry, you gave me hell as soon as felt/Sorry, honeymoon section over now,” Doja raps, her repeated pauses and phrases mirroring a back-and-forth with a companion. She’s labored to shut the gap between her rapping and singing, however Vie’s retro framework sharpens the disparity; the emphasis on homage appears to discourage Doja from filling these songs with the fixed transitions that propel older tracks like “Must Know” and “Discuss Soiled.” The place on earlier Doja Cat data each little melody and tic and punchline felt memorable, right here it’s at all times the rap that stands out.
The exception is spotlight “Make It Up,” which notably departs from the album’s retro aesthetic. Gliding throughout keys and bass kicks, Doja swings between melodic rapping and crooning whereas ad-libbing in each modes, the fixed movement culminating in a quiet countermelody that accents the ultimate hook and turns into the outro. It’s not an accident that it’s one of many stickiest songs. Though Doja clearly envisions Vie as her poppiest album, with ’80s pop as her aesthetic of alternative, the file is most attention-grabbing when she’s ignoring such distinctions moderately than embracing them. Pop rap has by no means been the oxymoron the heads need it to be; it’s simply one of many style’s infinite permutations. Doja might use the reminder.
