As opening lines go, you can’t do much better than “Said play with my pussy, but don’t play with my emotions.” That’s how Doja Cat kicks off “Rules,” a semi-vulnerable highlight from a sophomore LP that’s forced to contend more with following last year’s “Mooo!” than her excellent debut from a few months earlier, Amala. “Mooo!” was an absurdist stunt (“Got the methane/I’m a farter/With my farmer/McDonald”) whose homespun video was designed to go viral—which it did, garnering cosigns from Chance the Rapper and Katy Perry along the way. While Hot Pink never shies away from a punchline—or much of anything, really—it also re-emphasizes the California native’s artistry, whether she’s paying tribute to Nicki Minaj (“Cyber Sex”) and posteriors (“Juicy”) or making easy work of a woozy blink-182 sample (“Bottom Bitch”) and weightless West African guitar (“Won’t Bite”).
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- Doja Cat
- Ariana Grande
- Kali Uchis
- Flo Milli
- Nicki Minaj
- Melanie Martinez