Planet Her Review
By: Brianna Nestor
NASA’s latest rocket has taken us to "Planet Her". Doja Cat, creative mastermind and triple threat artist, just dropped her much-anticipated third studio album. In the past year or so preceding this project, Doja has had a very successful run with TikTok hits “Say So”, "Juicy", and "Like That". Her release with SZA, "Kiss Me More", peaked at no.4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is looking like the song of the summer so far.
Although Doja’s been a working artist since 2014, her ever growing superstardom has made a strong cultural impact in 2020-2021. She, as well as (her slightly more abrasive musical peer) Megan Thee Stallion are amazing, unapologetic rappers who have filled a gap in mainstream music that we really have been missing. Especially for this generation of young women, it has been so important to have such confident female figures with music that makes you feel confident and sexual without the shame that society has had in the past. Planet Her encompasses that, and for research purposes, I took the time to roll up and listen to the album all the way through for full effect.
The first meteor strike is "Woman", and listening to this immediately got me hooked. The production feels so precise and detailed, dare I say a perfect opener, with every individual beat of the song holding its own. I love how it immediately is upbeat, fun summer energy. My favorite lyrics of the song are:
"Don't ever think you ain’t hella these n*ggas dream girl / They wanna pit us against each other when we succeedin" for no reasons/ They wanna see us end up like we Regina on Mean Girls”
All of her features on this album are key. The first one that comes up is Payday featuring Young Thug, which I can easily hear becoming a radio single. While some rappers just come on a verse for the check, collaboration is one of Doja’s strongest skills. She has the rare ability to blend into each artist’s sound in a cohesive way while still being distinctively her. Between Young Thug, The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, JID, and Gunna and Eve on the deluxe, none of them are just any verse on a feature; they are so meticulously, well-tailored. Although I’m a fan of them all, my favorite feature has to be Eve on "Tonight". I'm obsessed with the beat and strong drumlines. It definitely is very Eve and also reminds me of Maria Maria by Carlos Santana with a hint of JLO vibes (even though Doja’s musical ability blows JLO out of the water).
An underrated track is "Been Like This" and I’m demanding it get more attention. At this point of the album, the song is a little more sensual/emotional/somber than the rest so far. The background vocals remind me of Billie Eilish and Doja’s own song "Streets". "Get Into It (Yuh)" is another personal standout. My first takeaway was that it reminded me of Nicki. I was later zooted and amazed to find out that she closes the song saying "thank you Nicki". It is not surprising that Doja’s a Barb as they both have very theatrical ways of expressing their art. Her line, "Call me Ed Sheeran, I'm in love with your body" is one of many quick-witted, catchy one liners in her discography. What makes them work is her extraordinary control over her pronunciation and flow. The lines may be short and cute, but the way they're annunciated make a big difference and add much more heat to it.
In my fully honest opinion, there are no skips on this album, even the Deluxe version. Not only does the music speak for itself, but the overall creative direction is so thorough, down to even the small sci-fi sounds in her production. Her and her team are professionals at portraying their exact visions in a unique but understandable way, all well being so alluring to the eye. The cover art ties everything together as a complete story, and I would love to see a complete visual album made for this.
In simple terms: Doja is just so fun. I love her strong feminine energy and how she’s so uncompromising with an out-of-this-world personality, although it is crazy that so much of her music references GameStop booty men. On June 28th, she tweeted "I want to feel the way I feel about other’s music about my music. I’m gonna keep trying. It’s not for yall. I’m looking for it for myself." While she may not recognize it now, I hope she realizes how impactful and trailblazing her music is; it quite literally has played a direct role in my own self-love journey. Brb - spending my summer on Planet Her.