C’est la ‘Vie’

Marcus Falcão / THE GATEPOST

By Antonio Machado Multimedia Editor “Is it coke? Is it crack? Is it meth? / What the f**k do she put in them hits” Doja Cat asked herself on her fourth studio album, “Scarlet,” and it seems as though she found the answer on her newest record, “Vie.” “Vie” is a record about love - Doja loving someone, loving her life, loving her art, and loving the bad moments. It embraces every aspect of life and capitalizes on the spontaneity of not knowing what could happen next sonically. After spending the better half of her previous album cycle alienating the general public by calling her previous works “cash grab music,” Doja found full artistic flexibility and freedom in “Vie” alongside Jack Antonoff. Her versatility is her strongest suit. It’s why people have spent so much time trying to label her as either a rapper or a pop singer, but the answer has never mattered. Genre is arbitrary, and Doja makes sure to blur all the lines. By all intents and purposes, “Vie” is an ’80s and ’70s disco-inspired pop album, but that doesn’t stop Doja from drawing influences from R&B, funk, soul, Hip-Hop, and modern pop. The record stays grounded in the past, but Doja makes sure to go back to the future when it calls. Doja approaches every song at a 93-degree angle. It’s never what is expected, and her unpredictability makes each and every track feel like such a thrilling ride. Sampling the theme song of the 1982 show “Knight Rider,” “AAAHH MEN!” is one of the most unique experiences of the record. Every chorus varies from one another, and the verses make no sense at all. It’s theatrical, but never overbearingly so - she allows herself to maintain the earworm quality expected of her music while still bouncing off the walls. Rarely on this record does she sound like herself. At times, it feels almost as though she were a rapper featuring on a pop artist's track like it was the early 2000s. Sometimes, the rapper is Kanye. Sometimes, the rapper is Bizarre. The Erykah Badu-influenced soul vocal stylings in “All Mine” are some of Doja’s best in her career. She floats above the kick drums in sheen falsettos, but her surprising vocal range isn’t the best part of the song - it’s when she suddenly delivers a career-best flow out of nowhere. Contrastingly, she undercuts the sensual falsettos of “Lipstain” with vocal fry, halting the mystique for some unsuccessfully delivered bars - “Every girl’s a queen, but I’m the boss / We gotta mark our territory for them dogs, girl.” The album excels the most when Doja opens up. Like any true wordsmith, when she swings her bars with honesty, they cut deep. “Cussing you out, you the one I resent / Cussing you out, I delete and re-send / Sorry, I got three selves, one’s 12 / Sorry, you gave me hell once felt / Sorry, honeymoon phase over now,” she raps on the Prince-inspired R&B cut “Couples Therapy” - a rare breather from the more uptempo tracks. “Gorgeous” could very easily be a Kanye track through Doja’s flow and delivery alone. The real similarity, however, is the vulnerability she demonstrates here. Each and every line resonates as some of the most memorable within the record as a whole, as Doja explains her relationship with beauty and plastic surgery - “Then I got surgery ’cause of scrutiny.” Love comes in many shapes and forms, and while the record may be about her partner, Doja makes sure to make it known that she loves herself throughout the album. It’s these moments of honest melancholy that allow songs like “Silly! Fun!” to succeed. The track is wholeheartedly frivolous and childish, but it’s supposed to be that way. “Don't be dramatic, let's have (kids) / And buy a mansion and three cats and two garages worth of whips / This ain't delusional, impulsive, don't be rude, that's so insulting.” There’s a “Planet Her” quality to it that is exacerbated by the dizzying, besotted production. Doja repeatedly asks herself if a tiger can change its stripes throughout this record, and in “Vie,” she finds the answer to be a resounding “Yes!” Doja Cat has spent years asking who she is - rapper, pop star, or provocateur - and on this record, she stops looking for a label and starts finding a groove. Rating: A- She has come a long way since “MOOO!”