Ok, I must confess it: I’m head over heels with Doechii. When I first saw the music video of Crazy in 2022 I was hooked. Now, a little bit over two years later, she’s released the highly acclaimed mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal, is nominated to three Grammy Awards, and delivered one of 2024’s best Tiny Desk Concerts. To kick off the year, the multifaceted artist delves into acting by honouring Black sitcoms in the official music video of Denial Is a River, one of her most streamed songs.
The song style is sort of conversational, and in it, the so-called Swamp Princess sums up the most recent (and tumultuous) years in her life — from getting a DM from her lover’s bae to getting signed and going viral, to having problems with drugs and addiction. Paying homage to Family Matters, the video directed by Carlos Acosta and James Mackel also features an incredibly star-studded cast including actor-comedians Zack Fox and Rickey Thompson; Grammy-nominated TDE artists ScHoolboy Q and SiR; and other artists like Teezo Touchdown, Earl Sweatshirt and Baby Tate; and DJ Miss Milan.
Right after Nissan Altima, the most streamed song of Alligator Bites Never Heal, comes the brilliant Denial Is a River with over twenty-six million streams on Spotify. A couple of months ago, Doechii took to Genius’ YouTube channel to explain the song’s lyrics in-depth, where we could see her open up to her fans about some major events in her life. Just a couple of weeks ago, she teamed up with seven-time Emmy-nominated actress and producer Issa Rae to perform this song — again, for Genius. And to keep the momentum going, and while we’re still getting over New Year’s celebrations, the Swamp Princess doesn’t take a break and continues to deliver what she does best: art that is fresh, cool, and thrilling.