Planet Cat

 

The female Pop / Hip Hop / RnB scene has rarely been as competitive as it is today — aided in no small part by the fact that females in music have rarely been as visible as they are today. A profoundly positive phenomenon, in our humble opinion, with a few major standard-bearers as proof: on the Hip Hop front, you will find superstar duo Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion for one; on the Soul / RnB front, you get the musings of H.E.R. or Jazmine Sullivan; as for Pop, just take your pick: Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift (although she would gradually associate to Folk)… The point is, there are a lot of amazing female musicians out there — and more importantly on top of the charts.

Despite all that, Doja Cat has managed the near-impossible: not only to make a name for herself in this unique context, but possibly even carve out her own little sub-genre of sorts. What is quite striking about Planet Her, her third album released mere days ago, is that it oozes… positivity. This may not have been your first though going into that last sentence: the lady has been known to play with suggestive lyrics and/or dances before, but what comes out more than anything else from this new release is the sheer enthusiasm and optimism of a young artist — and woman — whose outlook on life clearly hasn’t been affected by the recent/current pandemic. Maybe even strengthened…

On top of that overall positive vibe, and perhaps tied in together, is the fact that Doja Cat is gradually founding her very own stylistic universe, which meshes together Pop, RnB, Hip Hop, electro, dancehall… and did we mention positivity? The couple of openers “Woman” and “Naked” are perfect proof of this Doja Cat sound. The Ariana Grande duet “I don’t do drugs” is a more straightforward pop track, yet still infused with that rich and bubbly feeling. Meanwhile, other dueting partner The Weeknd provides a sleeker, more minimalistic aspect of Cat’s persona with “You Right”, still providing that “feel good” thing. Not to mention the anthemic “Kiss Me More”, an effortlessly catchy song performed along with the great SZA.

In short, there are many reasons to listen to Planet Her, all of them valid. And very few reasons not to…