Hot Pink (album)


Hot Pink is the second studio album by American rapper and singer Doja Cat. The album was released on November 7, 2019, by Kemosabe. A departure from the dancehall and psychedelic style of her debut album Amala, it is a pop, R&B and funk record containing elements of soul. Doja Cat wrote all of the tracks alongside its songwriters and producers. It features production from Doja Cat, Yeti Beats and Dr. Luke under the pseudonym Tyson Trax, among others.
The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics. It debuted at number 93 on the US Billboard 200, after one day of tracking. The next week, Hot Pink rose to number 19. Later, the album reached a new peak of number 9 on the chart becoming her first Top 10 entry on the chart. The album produced six singles; "Juicy", featuring Tyga, "Bottom Bitch", "Rules", "Cyber Sex", "Say So", and "Like That". "Say So" became Doja Cat's first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, after two remixes featuring Nicki Minaj were released. The album features guest appearances from Smino, Tyga and Gucci Mane. According to Rolling Stone, Hot Pink has sold 382,900 album-equivalent units in the US during its chart run with 10,582 of those units being pure sales. Doja will embark on the Hot Pink Tour to promote the album.

Background and development

On October 23, 2019, Doja posted a new picture on Instagram and said "I got something completely new for you guys on Thursday. #HOTPINK ?". The surprise was her new single "Rules", then fans started to believe that the "#HOTPINK" is the album's name. On November 2, 2019, she officially announced the album via her social networks. In addition to announcing the release date of the album, she also revealed the title of the project, tracklist and its cover. When she announced the tracklist, she blurred out the featured artist's name of the song "Like That", and later revealed the featured artist was Gucci Mane.
Doja stated numerous times that she did not fully like her debut album Amala, and always thought it was not a "finished album". "I was smoking hella weed. I was high all the fucking time and it wasn't even helping me perceive what was going on musically", she said to Billboard. She also continued, "For this new album, it wasn't like that. This album is a compilation of when I stopped smoking weed, and all of the stuff that just poured out of my mind when I was sitting in bed, when I was on Instagram Live, when I'm just chilling and having a true moment to myself to just create and make shit that I felt good about. I was just lucid and happy and I think it really shows in this album."

Artwork

In an interview, Doja described her album in the following words, "I named the album "Hot Pink" because I wanted people to feel that before they got into the music that it felt passionate, warm and welcoming," she said in a statement. "I think that the color hot pink describes those things the most. It's my favourite color and has been for my whole life, so for my second project where I've found myself and I'm more refined, I felt that this title was the best choice."

Music and lyrics

Production

Hot Pink was recorded from 2018 until mid-2019. It features production from Doja Cat, Yeti Beats, Tyson Trax, KoOol kOjAk, tizhimself, Kurtis McKenzie, Ben Billions, Salaam Remi, Mike Crook, Fallen, Ari PenSmith, P2J, Blaq Tuxedo, Troy NöKA and Johng Beats, among others. Dr. Luke produced five songs on the album under the pseudonym Tyson Trax. Doja wrote all of the songs on the album by herself with its producers and songwriters. Primarily a pop, R&B and funk album, Hot Pink's lyrical themes include sex, success, and fame, as well as Doja Cat's status.

Songs

The album opens with "Cyber Sex", which speaks about how she wants to have FaceTime sex. The next song, "Won't Bite" featuring Smino, also have a bubbly beat and pop-ish sound. About Smino, she said that his verse was the one of the best things on the album. A fully rap song "Rules" follows, which some reviewers found it influenced by Kendrick Lamar, with Doja making statements such as "Said play with my pussy, but don't play my emotions". The fourth song, "Bottom Bitch", sampled the 1999 Blink-182 song, "What's My Age Again?", described a traditional pop song by critics, further demonstrates Doja’s confidence to say whatever she likes.
On the fifth track, "Say So", Doja gave a groovy nod to the 70s, as she seamlessly switches between floaty vocals and skilfully contained flows over a disco-inspired beat. It is followed by "Like That" featuring rapper Gucci Mane, an upbeat R&B, hip hop song. Hot Pink also contains five R&B mid-tempo songs that contains funk and soul elements – "Talk Dirty", "Addiction", "Streets", "Shine", "Better Than Me" – which all lyrically show Doja's sex status. The album's last song is "Juicy", initially released in March 2019 as part of the deluxe edition of her debut album Amala. The song's remixed version which features rapper Tyga closed the album with its fun, playful and devilishly flirtatious melody.

Singles

The album's lead single titled "Juicy" featuring Tyga was released on August 15, 2019 along with a music video. The song debuted at number 83 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first career entry on the chart. "Juicy" later re-entered the chart at number 67, following her album release. The song was sent to an US Rhythmic radio, and reached a new peak of number 47 the next week, before peaking at number 41 later. It has spent 22 weeks on the chart. Doja Cat performed "Juicy" on Late Night with Seth Meyers with Tyga on November 12, 2019. This was her first televised performance in the country. The song charted in several other countries, as well as Canada, UK and New Zealand, peaking at number 57, 80 and 31, respectively. The solo version of "Juicy" peaked at number 68 in Australia.
The album's second single titled "Bottom Bitch" was released on October 3, 2019 along with a music video. "Bottom Bitch" uses a "dragged-out sample" of Blink-182's "What's My Age Again?", and, according to the Los Angeles Times, turns it "into a night-riding, gender-flipping, endearingly vulgar statement of intent". The album's third single titled "Rules" was released on October 24, 2019, along with a music video. The latter song became popular on Twitter, mostly because of her rapping skills, and many of them comparing her to Kendrick Lamar, because of the way she whispers, chants, and speeds up her flow all within a couple of seconds may be influenced by him. The album's fourth single titled "Cyber Sex" was released on November 7, 2019 along with the release of the album with a music video.
On November 10, 2019, Doja stated that she would release a music video for the song "Say So". Following several viral dance challenge videos that featured the song, "Say So" became a sleeper hit on the record charts in a number of countries. The song became popular on TikTok, and celebrities like Selena Gomez and James Charles have done that challenge on their accounts. The song was sent to US contemporary hit radio and serviced as the fifth single of Hot Pink in late January. The said music video was released on February 27, 2020. The video also featured cameo appearances from TikTok stars Dontè Colley and Haley Sharpe, the latter of which who created the viral dance for the song. The dance itself, that made the song popular, was featured in the music video. The song marked Doja's first top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 5. Following the release of the remix featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, "Say So" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming both Doja's and Minaj's first number one single. The song also top 10 in several countries, including United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Belgium, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Lithuania, New Zealand and Singapore.
"Like That" featuring rapper Gucci Mane would be announced as the sixth single from the album in early May 2020. The song was serviced to Rhythmic, Top 40 and Urban contemporary radio formats throughout May 2020. A corresponding music video was released on June 25, 2020.

Critical reception

Hot Pink received generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, a website that aggregate reviews of music albums, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76, based on 6 reviews. Jordan Bassett of NME gave Hot Pink a 4-out-5-star-rating, and said "Dlamini's taking no chances here and, now that the smoke's lifted, it's clear she’s a pop contender with the nous and drive to go as far as she wants."
Lucy Shanker of Consequence of Sound gave the album positive B- score, stating that "What Hot Pink lacks in layers of ridiculousness expected from a Doja Cat album, it makes up for in its versatility. It serves as a testament to Doja's skill set: Her singing, rapping, and producing shine effortlessly on the record on tracks that range in genre and topic. Whether she's channeling her Summer Walker-esque sadness or delivering an ultra-pop smash hit, Doja never waivers. More so, Doja unveils layers of her usually untouchable self, which seems like we're being let in on a secret. There’s no question that she's in control throughout the record, even as the format reveals some weaknesses."
On another positive review, given by Redbrick's Roberta Carro, she overall called the album "Hot Pink oozes feminine power and proves that Doja Cat is truly a master of versatility. The album is creative, adventurous, scandalous and sets Doja as a strong contender as one of today's most unique new artists." Lakin Starling of Pitchfork gave the album a score of 7.4 out of 10, noted that Doja's versatility is a "gift", and unlike her debut album Amala, Hot Pinks sound does not feel "scattered" or "semi-rushed". Erin Bashford of Clash called it "an album that knows exactly what it is, and it's the work of a well-crafted hip pop star with something to prove". and gave Hot Pink a 7-out-of-10-score-rating.

Accolades

Hot Pink was considered by Vibe the 9th best album of the year, the 40th by NME, and the 49th by Complex.

Commercial performance

Hot Pink was released on November 7, 2019, on Thursday. Following the album's release, it debuted at number 93 on the US Billboard 200, with one-day sales of 7,900 copies. The next week, Hot Pink rose to number 19, earning 20,000 album-equivalent units in its first full week. On March 9, 2020, Hot Pink had a 43-percent increase in sales after Doja's performance at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as the release of the new music video for the song, "Say So", rising from number 29 to a new peak of number 17, selling 28,000 album-equivalent units, with 1,500 coming from pure albums sales. On the chart dated May 16, 2020, the album reached a new peak of number nine on the US Billboard 200, selling 37,000 album-equivalent units. It became her first album to reach the top ten on that chart.
In the United Kingdom, Hot Pink debuted at number 96 in its first full week. On March 6, 2020, Hot Pink achieved a new peak of number 41 on the chart in its sixth week, due to strong streaming numbers. The next week, the album reached a new peak of number 38, and was the seventh-most-streamed female album that week.
In the rest of the Europe and Oceania, following the success of her song "Say So", Hot Pink gained more popularity around March/April 2020, despite being released in late 2019. So far, the album went top 10 in Estonia, Lithuania and Norway, peaking at number 3, 3 and 8, respectively. Hot Pink also reached the top 40 on the official charts of countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden.

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal.
Notes
Sampling credits
Credits adapted from Tidal.

Performance

Certifications

Release history