Doechii: Alligator Bites Never Heal Review
8.5
GENRE: Rap
YEAR OF RELEASE: 2024Anyone on TikTok in 2021 probably heard an adamant voice announcing herself as Doechii—with two i’s—with a presence that oozed confidence and drew millions of people in, turning her into a viral sensation with great potential. Coming from the Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) camp (the same record label SZA is signed to) with the ability to both sing and rap proves more than enough reason to make fans of the genre interested in what’s to come.
What emerged was a pleasant surprise, defying expectations. Alligator Bites Never Heal, a project that refuses to give listeners a second to breathe, bombards them with world-class rapping ability, transcendent harmonies, and production that, although minimal, is always flowing in conjunction with the centerpiece of the project—Doechii’s voice. Whether she is spitting venom with an aggressive, dominant tone on “CATFISH” or serenading the listener on tracks like “Hide N Seek” and “Wait”, Doechii keeps the energy high through the entire project.
The hit on this project is “NISSAN ALTIMA,” and the reasons are abundantly clear. From the very first second of the song, listeners are thrown into a machine gun flow that feels like a Fast and Furious movie packed into a song, all without giving up an inch on annunciation or lyricism. This is Doechii at her boldest, with proclamations like “I’m the hip-hop Madonna/I’m the trap Grace Jones” and a striking line about her bisexuality in “I’m a real bi bitch, every coast, ho”. It’s a great song for the car, for the club, and for hyping yourself up while doing laundry on a Sunday morning. It stands as one of those “great” songs that will likely be around for a while.
Yet, it’s “DENIAL IS A RIVER” that implodes in your ears and sticks to your brain. A track akin to 90s hip-hop, Doechii’s self-deprecating and brutally honest confessions in this freestyle become, somehow… catchy and ear cand-y. A track with no hook, mind you. “BLOOM” stands out as another highlight, not just for the song itself, but as a version of Doechii that is removed from the aggressive “sport” of hip-hop and is a stripped down, simple track. The theme of this song–life bringing you out of your high–is somber but beautiful, and it shows in Doechii’s vocal performance, the ebbing and flowing of the instrumental, and the voice notes that begin and end the track to create a perfect little musical package about reality and responsibility.
Another consistent strength that Doechii exhibits is her ability to create catchy music, specifically in crafting hooks. “GTFO”, “WAIT” and “SLIDE” exemplify these fantastic hooks that stay ingrained in the mind for days after. She never takes up too much space with her vocals, and yet wherever she is, she remains very prominent and clear in her presence—all of which makes these tracks catchy, and ultimately unforgettable for the young star.
Some songs are criminally short, though—“SKIPP” places intricately crafted layers on top of an instrumental that feels like taking a stroll through an Elden Ring forest at night; it runs just under 2 minutes and leaves listeners craving more time to sit and explore. “PROFIT” is another one of that suffers from brevity—the song is very poignant, detailing Doechii’s struggles through life as she pursues her ambitions, and yet the instrumental simply fails to match up with her conviction. It stands as the weakest track on the album—although the voice memo that wraps up the track is a nice little touch that brings listeners back to Earth and softens those flaws. With more length, there could have been room for the emptiness of the instrumental to slowly pick up and build into something that coincides with Doechii’s fervor, alas, that just isn’t the rout she chose to follow on this one. You can’t win ‘em all.
But the tracks where Doechii is at her most focused and on topic prove particularly compelling. The first three songs of the project are great, though the density of a “FIREFLIES” surpasses the sharp witticisms of a “BULLFROG”; “DEATH ROLL” is essentially looking down the barrel of a gun with the pressure that she exudes in her words and flow over a simple guitar and drum beat—she doesn’t require much at all when it comes to making great music, and it’s simply better when she locks in.
So, then, it’s no surprise that this album won a Grammy, or that it receives the acclaim that it does. In a time where music just feels so oversaturated with the same sounds and styles, Doechii is a strategically self-assured breath of fresh air—unrelenting, unwavering, and in-your-face from the first second of the album to the fade-out on the title track at the very end of the project. The sky’s the limit for her—if this is merely scratching the surface of what she can do, her future appears incredibly bright as her ear matures and she gains more years of experience.
Listen below:
The debut studio album by the UK-based singer is a candid assemblage of self-confidence and insecurity, both at once.