In the span of just a few months, Doja Cat’s infamous actions have been the source of controversy across the internet, resulting in her losing 500,000 followers on Instagram.
In those months, she found herself hopping from one scandal to the next; they ranged from saying her old music was bad and a cash grab to dating a controversial figure to being accused of selling her soul to the devil.
However, even amongst all of the discourse and chaos surrounding her, Doja Cat has released her newest album, Scarlet, and, along with it, four new music videos.
“Attention”
Doja Cat’s “Attention” was the first song to be released, even before the full album was released. Although she may have claimed to be entering a new era with her music, it becomes a lot more apparent with the release of this music video.
The general atmosphere of this new era is set as a much darker, more powerful one. Unlike that of her “Kiss Me More” music video, which is visually much lighter and more romantic, “Attention” is set at night in the streets of a city. In the parts where she isn’t in a city, she is surrounded by darker-toned colors, asserting the fact that things have now changed.
The song itself is Doja Cat stating to all her critics, and the world, that she is unphased by all the hate sent her way. Thus, the beginning of the video begins with her being surrounded by her fans and paparazzi. However, when she actually starts to rap, the scene changes to her simply walking down the street—switching the focus from the people to her and what she has to say.
In doing so, it feels as though the audience’s attention is being commanded; Doja Cat’s words will be heard.
In the midst of the video, we also meet a recurring character: Doja Cat’s alter ego, Scarlet.
“Paint the Town Red”
In the second music video for “Paint the Town Red,” Doja Cat dives into the “selling her soul to the devil” accusations head-on and dances with the personification of death and the devil.
Once again, she sparks controversy with the music video, since she is admittedly dancing with all these dark figures; however, to say that the video wasn’t visually appealing would be a lie.
What popped out the most to me, though, were the outfits she chose to wear in it.
Her primary two outfits were her in a bewitching red dress, with part of it looking like an exposed muscle, and her dressed in complete black, looking like the other character who one can only assume is a demon of some sort.
In a way, it essentially shows a visible shift in when she “sells her soul.”
Amidst all her outlandish scenes, Scarlet once again makes her appearance in the reflection of the Grim Reaper’s scythe.
It is evident that the whole music video was meant to be ironic, with her even riding a dragon at one point, but, even still, the production of it all was clearly not something to be laughed at.
“Demons”
Just as the title would imply, the song and music video surrounds demons. For many who watched it, it sparked fear and concern within them—with scenes such as the demons from the previous music video crawling all over the ceiling toward actress Christina Ricci who is lying in her bed.
Although I have never personally been a fan of horror, it is clear that the video was inspired by a multitude of classic horror movies, including The Exorcist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Shining, and Paranormal Activities.
The nod to all these horror movies was a fitting one, seeing as the song is about Doja Cat and all her demons.
She took the most infamous scene from them and reenacted them with her own twist. Even if it went over some people’s heads, it doesn’t change the fact that it was a horrifyingly striking video to watch.
“Agora Hills”
“Agora Hills” is a jarring change from all her other music videos. In all her previous performances, she has a dark, domineering tone to it; however, in this one, it is much softer and dystopian.
There are still traces of that demonic theme she has going on throughout her album, with there being floating people, but it is significantly reduced. Instead, it is reduced to Doja Cat primarily being in her bedroom or in what seems to be an abandoned mall, all while engulfed by a sheet of pastel colors.
Although it is not as shock-inducing as the other videos may be, it is still filmed in such a way that it catches the attention of the audience with its aesthetically pleasing palette—it does still help, though, that there are floating people in the background.
It is clear that Doja Cat is here to send a message, and her music videos do more than enough to prove that fact.
