Remember when Doja Cat was seemingly a flash-in-the-pan singer? Her quirky breakout hit "MOO!" was met with internet acclaim before she was inevitably "canceled" when old homophobic tweets resurfaced.

Her apology for the tweets was then met with a mixed reception. "I called a couple people f*ggots when I was in high school in 2015," she wrote. "Does this mean I don't deserve support?... Does saying f*ggot mean you hate gay people? Do I hate gay people? I don't think I hate gay [people]." The tweets in question, when revisited through the lens of 2019 politics, seem rather harmless. The whole debacle raises questions about the validity of cancel culture, especially pertaining to "old tweets," but Doja Cat isn't here to be a spokesperson and Hot Pink doesn't take time to reflect on the past. Instead, it pushes the career of Amala Zandile Dlamini fervently forward with a collection of catchy, and sophisticated pop songs.

Doja Cat - Cyber Sex (Official Video)www.youtube.com

Hot Pink, instead, is a Lil Kim-level flex dripping in glitter. It offers up some of the best music of Doja's career and paints her as more than just a one-hit pop singer. "Shine" is an expertly crafted ode to wealth and diamonds, while "Like That" and "Won't Bite" bring out the best in Gucci Mane and Smino.

Then again, as charismatic as the project is, Hot Pink is soaked in bitter irony. While the project fights to glorify female sexuality and wealth, its message feels hollow when the production credits roll. Dr. Luke, the mega-producer whose career was called into question after he was accused of brutal sexual and emotional abuse by Ke$ha, inked a controversial deal with Doja Cat earlier this year and had a heavy hand in Hot Pink's production.

It's clear that Doja does what she wants, which is at times admirable. But free will and ignorance are two different things, and while Doja doesn't feel the need to be defined by political correctness, it will inevitably define her and her career whether she wants it to or not.

MUSIC

A Sweet and Sugary Delight, Ravyn Lenae's Newest EP, 'Crush', Explores Modern Romance

Ravyn Lenae drops her new EP "Crush," produced by Steve Lacy.

Ravyn Lenae's EP 'Crush'

This is soul music for people with a sweet tooth, for those unafraid of being seduced into a sugar coma.

Chicago's Ravyn Lenae is even more self-assured on her 5-track EP "Crush," crooning over Grammy-nominated Steve Lacy's (The Internet) signature SoCal soul. The two began collaborating together after Lacy DM'd Lenae, asking to work with her in the future. Their chemistry is palpable, as a 19-year-old Lenae steps out of her shell and into pink stilettos. Sweet, dreamy, and funky, "Crush" benefits from Lacy's surf rock, adding flirtatious guitar riffs and psychedelic flair to Lenae's vocals. A bit more comfortable and confident in her range, Lenae's voice is feathery, reveling in feminine intensity only magnified by supple, breathy "hoo-hoos" and "woo-woos." Her talent for harmonizing shines on this EP—something 2017's "Midnight Moonlight" (produced by Monte Booker) showed she was more than capable of handling—as she navigates an array of sonic textures.

Lenae and Lacy aren't the first singers to flirt with '70s psychedelia when reinterpreting R&B and soul, but they certainly add their own panache: Lenae plays with Mariah Carey-esque vocal acrobatics toward the end of "The Night Song," challenging her classically-trained soprano. The effect is silky and buttery against Lacy's bass grooves. On the hook she sings, "Hair down, feeling alright / Got my edges on tight, it's a party tonight / Feeling good, yeah feeling polite / And we're movin' all night, all night, all night." She's having fun and she's doing so in style, revitalizing the swag of '90s icons like Aaliyah and TLC.

On the single "Sticky," Lenae shows a vibrant side to her voice left uncharted in her work with Booker. Like many teen musicians, Lenae graduates into a woman through her music, embracing a more provocative and enticing sound. "Crush" is her femme-fatale, hear-me-roar project with a healthy dose of grown woman sugar and glitter. This is soul music for people with a sweet tooth, for those unafraid of being seduced into a sugar coma.

And as most R&B and soul does, "Crush" lightly ponders the games of love: unrequited love, the looming fear of rejection, virtual love, long-distance relationships, and self-love. The duet "Computer Luv" finds Lenae and Lacy singing about the virtual confines of a relationship, and when the two will risk intimacy in the flesh: "When will I meet you / I'm down to see you / I wanna see you right now / It's been a year now." The immediacy of their voices is telling of the emotional and physical inadequacy of trying to love someone through a computer screen. It's one of the more tender moments on the EP, as Lacy wraps the chorus in an acid-drenched guitar riff. (Again, try not to feel like Aaliyah was in the recording room.)

The EP's closer "4 Leaf Clover," another duet, harmonizes why a lover is being mean, pushing and pulling until finally giving in. Lenae's sentiments are rooted in emotional longing and physical desire, human capacities that can leave you emotionally bankrupt, but "Crush" argues love's sugar rush is worth the migraine. Dazzling and lightly drizzled in psychedelia, Ravyn Lenae's reinterpretation of the love language is like being under the sheets, tangled in the body of a loved one, entirely intoxicated and enamored, if only in your mind.


Shaun Harris is a poet, freelance writer, and editor published in avant-garde, feminist journals. Lover of warm-toned makeup palettes, psych-rock, and Hilton Als. Her work has allowed her to copyedit and curate content for various poetry organizations in the NYC area.


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