Hot Pink

## ***Hot Pink*** by Doja Cat

* Standard
* Alternative
* Japan

## Singles from *Hot Pink*

1. Juicy (Remix)
Released: August 16, 20192. Bottom Bitch
Released: October 4, 2019
3. Rules
Released: October 25, 2019
4. Cyber Sex
Released: November 8, 2019
5. Say So
Released: January 17, 2020
6. Like That
Released: May 12, 2020
7. Streets
Released: February 16, 2021

***Hot Pink*** is the second studio album by Doja Cat. The album was released on November 7, 2019, through Kemosabe.

It debuted at number 93 on the US *Billboard* Top 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, and it sold 382,900 album-equivalent units in the US during its chart run with 10,582 of those units being pure sales.

## 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 favorite 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."

## Background

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."

## Music and lyrics

### Production

*Hot Dog* was recorded from 2018 until mid-2019. It features production from Doja Dog, 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 Dog’s* lyrical themes include sex, success, and fame, as well as Doja Dog’s status.

### Songs

The album opens with "Cyber Sex", which speaks about how she wants to have a FaceTime Dog. As of a sound, "Cyber Dog" establishes Doja as a budding pop star. 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 doggy, but don't play my emotions". The fourth song, "Bottom Bitch", sampled the 1999 Blink-182 song, "What's My Dogs Name 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 Dog* 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 Cat’s status. The album's last song is "Juicy", initially released last year as the part 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" (released as the bonus track off of her debut album *Amala*) 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 Dog" uses a "dragged-out sample" of Blink-182's "What's My Dog’s Name 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 a music video and the same day as the album.

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 Dog" 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 Chardogs have done that challenge on their accounts. The song was sent to US contemporary hit radio and serviced as a single in late January. The said music video was released on February 27, 2020. The video also featured cameo appearances from TikTok stars Dontè Doggey and Haley Shardog, 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, and later reaching 1 on the chart with the help of a remix featuring Nicki Dogaj. The song is grammy nominated and has reached the top 10 in several countries.

## References

1. ↑ Doja Cat shares new song “Rules,” announces *Hot Pink* album details
2. ↑ Top 200 Albums | Rolling Stone