Worlds collided during Doechii‘s performance of “Denial Is a River” on the Genius Open Mic stage, with the Florida rapper enlisting Issa Rae for the moment.
The song, which details Doechii’s story of finding out her ex-boyfriend cheated on her with a man and her journey of carving her own path when creating music, flows like a journal entry and features moments of self reflection. Rae takes on the role of Doechii’s inner dialogue on the track — a move that undeniably echoes the interior monologues from Rae’s show Insecure, in which her character raps to her alter ego in the mirror.
In the video shared on Thursday, the pair step behind their own mics, side by side. A third of the way into the song, Rae interrupts Doechii’s flow and checks in: “I just feel like this is the perfect opportunity for us to just take a second and kind of unpack what’s happened to you/You know, this guy cheated on you and…”
In response, Doechii declares, “Mm, nah, fuck it,” and continues on her lists of gains, while squeezing in a double entendre: “Platinum record this, viral record that/I’m makin’ so much money, I’m all over the net/I’m movin’ so fast, no time to process/And, no, I’m not in a gang, but I’m always on set.”
As Doechii and Rae play off the rap’s humorous lyricism and structure, they also effortlessly frame its more sobering topics. When speaking to Rolling Stone for “The Breakdown” in October, Doechii shared that she was “really afraid of how raw and honest I was being in that record,” and that while many fans loved the track for its humor, “it actually is very, very dark.”
“This song is really just like people hearing how I am, the inner dialogue that I’m having with myself. Like, OK, maybe you should really unpack that,” she explained. “This is an inner dialogue that I’m having with the voices in my head. It just seems like I’m less crazy because I do it with a funny voice.”
When discussing her third mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal, which features the standout track, Doechii said she had to let go of being codependent on her label and the expectations around her. “That was my version of like, all right, I’m gonna let everything go. I’m getting sober. I’m not talking to nobody. I’m not talking to my label. I’m finna be in my house. I’ma paint and I’ma write, and I’m not talking to anybody,” Doechii said. “I have to make music for therapy. And for me, that’s my formula.”
Alligator Bites Never Heal has earned Doechii three Grammy nominations including Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance, and Best Remixed Recording.
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